Title: Bed bugs in new Tennessee apartment

Question:
My girlfriend and I signed a lease less than a week ago for an apartment in our state, Tennessee. Yesterday while moving some kitchen stuff in we found what appears to be bed bugs, /r/whatbugisthis agreed they were bed bugs, and I called the landlord. I told him of the problem and he said to leave one of the dead ones in a bag and he would call their pest control company to be out around Tuesday to spray.

The problem is, everything I'm seeing online says bed bug treatment is a months-long process. The landlord says they can spray once and they'll all be dead. I don't really buy it.

If they are confirmed to be bed bugs, which I'm 90% sure of, can I terminate the lease? Tennessee doesn't seem to have a law one way or the other. Is the landlord allowed to terminate the lease for bed bugs?

Also, I paid $770, $400 deposit and $370 for the first two weeks rent up front. How much of that would I get back if the lease was terminated? Does it make a difference that I haven't moved in or payed the first rent payment?

We haven't moved my bed or her couch in yet, nor any of our clothes or other things that would be affected, so I'm not looking to recoup damages. Ideally I would just like my money back so we can find a different place.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance

Answer:
 DO NOT MOVE IN

I'll let everyone else here give you the legal advice, but I just want to say that whatever legal things you have to deal with, the amount of stress will PALE in comparison with trying to get bed bugs out of your apartment.

They are really good at hiding, so if you found some just moving in, it seems like that place has it really bad.


Title: NYC landlord shutting down elevator trapping residents

Question:
Hello everyone!

So I have encountered an issue with a lower income housing unit that a friend lives in where the landlord is literally shutting off the elevator all the time randomly. He has no reason to do this. We’ve caught him on the phone with someone admitting he’s shutting it off. We don’t know the reason, but he’s done this repeatedly for four years. It’s a 8 floor residence with a quadriplegic child on the 6th floor. His parents are afraid to talk to an attorney about it because they are here illegally and can not afford to move. The child is literally stuck because of this horrendous man. Additionally on the 4th floor there is a cancer survivor with no leg & no money to fight him- many low income single moms who have to lug strollers up and down the flights of stairs, people with herniated discs - and for myself I’ve been staying here because the friend is closer to the hospital where my daughter just received a major surgery so I wanted to be closer to the hospital. The elevator is working properly, he just doesn’t want it on. I have no idea why, but I suspect since he lives in the basement that he may hear it going up and down while he’s home and not want to. I’m not completely sure but it’s the only thing I can think of.

Shes called the city and appropriately put in notices to the city for the past four years where nothing is done about it- this man still keeps simply shutting it off and saying it’s broken.

I really want to help these people as it’s truly just insane and none of these people have the financials or power to do anything about it.

Apparently he also raises rent to those people who begin to complain so many are afraid to say anything.

Advice?

Answer:
 I would keep complaining to the city and maybe see about having the city send out an elevator inspector since it seems to keep breaking down and may be deemed unsafe.

https://www1.nyc.gov/site/buildings/safety/elevators.page

Also, if the child needs to leave the building and the elevator is broken then they should contact the fire department for assistance. The fire marshal may have words with the building owner but I'm not sure if that would be a violation they'd be handling or if they would just defer to the department of building I linked to above.


Title: Man jumped behind tow truck in effort to stop repossession if his vehicle, made no physical contact with tow but feigned injury, now attempting to claim/collect for injury and possibly file criminal assault charge on driver. Any possible counter?

Question:
Hi Reddit, could use your help... my friend, we'll call him M, is a repo agent and the initial incident described above happened at the beginning of September. His boss has brought it up a handful of times since basically updating and advising that per his insurance company, the claim of injury was being pursued although really no further details were given.

Today he received a call from the tow company's insurance requesting a statement on the incident and, in speaking with the rep, found out the details of the accusations and also that the "victim" indicated in his statement that he wanted to press criminal assault charges.

I'm trying not to make this post too long and am happy to elaborate in the comments or edit as requested but here is a brief description of events-

M's account- He pulled up to debtor's address and found car that was to be repossessed parked at the curb. M backed up to the car and, about 5-7ft away began lowering and unfolding the boom via control from inside the cab. Before the boom reached the ground, the debtor came running outside yelling for him not to take the car, ran straight behind the tow truck (which was in park), fell onto the ground and began yelling that he had been hit by the tow truck. M exited the cab and walked over to debtor who was now on his feet but doubled over and was continuing to accuse M of hitting him with the truck and saying he would call the police. M told debtor to go ahead and call the police and he would wait there for them also. M got back in the truck and pulled over a few houses down so as to not obstruct traffic; debtor jumped in his car to follow and parked behind the tow truck. Debtor was on his cell phone (m assumed with 911) and could be heard relaying the license plate number, a physical description of M and the company name which is written on the side of the tow truck. M waited there while debtor continued to yell and attempt to recruit bystanders in his tirade, after about 20 minutes debtor threatened to call the police at which point M, frustrated asked, "I though you called them already?" Advised he did not have time for this, gave debtor his company's business card and hand wrote his own name on the back and left.

Debtor's version- he ran outside to stop his car from being repossessed. Tow truck ran over his foot or the boom was lowered onto it causing injury (there are different versions). He produced a title to the car to illustrate there had been some mistake. (Which would have no effect, M is subcontracted by the title loan company) Tow driver left without waiting for police.
Per the insurance rep, an incident report was made and debtor advised that when the identity of the driver could be determined he did want criminal charges filed. An ambulance was called and observed his foot to be "red and a little swollen", he was (presumably) treated on scene as he was not taken to the hospital and has no further treatment documentation or claim.

I'd like to add that the police have not made any attempt whatsoever to contact the tow company or find the identity of the driver. The company only employs two drivers on that shift with starkly different physical appearances so determining who it was would have been very easy. And here's what aggravates the whole thing; M's company had just been taken over by a new owner a couple weeks before this happened. Things started out well with his new boss and the atmosphere at work severely soured after a claim was pursued involving M. Whether it was a direct correlation or not, pay increase and advancement that had been discussed early on have since been shelved although M's standard of work has not changed. This is also further distressing because M, who has a checkered past (totally non violent) has been making such an effort (and succeeding) over the last year to keep his life on track and stay out of trouble. The mention of criminal charges, however far fetched, has taken a real toll on his outlook, self esteem and general demeanor.

So ultimately, what I'm asking is, is there anything we can do to be proactive? Forgive me, I'm not a lawyer, could we file an injunction? Sue for defamation or libel or slander (I'm not clear on which if any would apply here). Please help me help my friend who is an all around decent human being just trying keep his life together and do the right thing. Thank you for reading, guys

EDIT-verbiage regarding criminal charges **i have no real legal knowledge and did my best to explain as clearly as I could with terms/words my limited knowledge of the subject found appropriate. Apologies for any mistakes in that regard

EDIT- hey all, I totally agree with your thoughts on what SHOULD have been done, M calling the police, cameras on the truck, etc.. unfortunately that wasn't done and there isn't anything I can do about it. Really looking for advice on what CAN be done now. Thank you!

Answer:
 First, a victim can't pursue criminal charges.  Only a district attorney can pursue criminal charges.  In this case, that seems rather far-fetched.

Second, both the repo guy and his employer sound extremely unprofessional.  Driving away from what could be construed as an injury accident is stupid and illegal.  He should have called the police and/or an ambulance himself and waited for them to make a report and give his side of the story.  It is also a very good idea to have several cameras on the truck to document every repo, including one looking straight at the tow bar.  As it is, it's the repo guy's word against the debtor, and not much evidence one way or another.


Title: Roommates changed locks, do I have to pay rent?

Question:
One of my roommates and I were having issues to the point where I felt unsafe and decided to move in with a friend for the last 2 months of my lease. I moved all my things out, but am continuing to pay my share of the rent through the end of my lease.

Today when I moved everything out, my roommates asked for my key and fob, because they don't want someone not staying at the apartment coming in. I refused and said I'm still on the lease and paying so I will keep it and turn it into the landlord at the end of the lease. They stated they would be changing the locks.

If they change the locks without providing me keys am I required to pay the rest of my lease? What should I do?

Answer: If you are on the lease, your rent obligation is between you and your landlord. A dispute between you and your roommate does not absolve you of liability here. If the roommate changes the locks, you should report this to the landlord and ask if he'd be willing to terminate the old lease and sign a new one with the remaining tenant directly.


Title: [NJ] Bought a Used Car "As Is" almost 3 months ago, now experiencing issues

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >Could the dealership be responsible for any repair costs?

Nope.  That's what as-is means.


Title: (cesena)(Italy) My Father Signed A Mortgage For Our Hotel in Italy And Gave All The Money Away To Random People Without Me Or My Mom Knowing.

Question:
Sorry for my terrible English if it looks all weird it's my second language.

So it all started 12 years ago my mom got cancer, we live in Bulgaria so she had to go to Italy where my dad is from and where I was born and raised   to get chemo. Once she got to our house my father  refused to pay any of the chemo bills so did my aunt (his sister) and literally kicked her out on the street so the hospital  decided nicely to do it for free. While she was doing her treatment  and was away for 1.5 years  my father looked after me at home I was around 7-8 at the time at some point he left me with my granny and went somewhere for 5 months.
Fast Forward 5 years ahead were in the house (our hotel)  that I was born on a vacation for 3 months one day my mom is looking thru documents in shelves and randomly finds a document explaining how  the whole house is under mortgage for 600000 euro  and have something like 3 years to pay it back  SIGNED by my father

it turns out while she was sick with cancer and being in the hospital he went with his mentally ill sister to a bank and signed a contract for 400000 euro gave it  ALL to her we saw none of that money meanwhile while she is mentally ill she gives the money to some random person that we don’t know to this day  by the way she is something like 77 years old and my dad 65 at  the time which what we gather from is an age you CANT do contracts like that . And he told us nothing about it until my mom found the documents  laying around .

Awso there is A LOT of fakes documents :

- it’s a fact that my father never signed for his part of the property to be
a part in the contract

-They gave 10000 euro that my other aunt left in the bank on my name for my education  to my father without me or my mother signing anything.

Fast forward a few years ahead she has 0 clients coming to the hotel because my aunt  behaves  disgustingly  and
 cant pay the mortgage tax  per year  so  we are about to lose the house and owe 600000   euro (with all the taxes)  to a bank which we never even heard of

It turns out when my dad dies I inherit the whole credit  as well which means I have to pay it back  somehow

  Also while my dad  is sitting with us in Bulgaria and dues not  follow anything that’s happening there she meanwhile dues not pay any taxes or bills so we also have to pay around 20000 in bills and taxes

What we tried so far:
We tried proving shes mentally ill and blocking her  but the lawyer said a case like that in italy takes up to 4-5 years and we have in the best case just 1.

We tried taking over the business but she wouldn’t let us work or do anything

We tried separating  the house but it turns out everything she build with the money from selling an apartment which my father bought for her 20 years ago  is ILLIGALY build (The pool, The giant parking lot etc) so we cant do that either

We tried to convince her to sell it the best price offer we got was 2milion euro but she went crazy and wanted 4milion euro so that failed horribly aswell

Answer:
 I doubt we have anyone here who is familiar with Italian law.

With the amount of money you are talking about, though, it seems like it is definitely worth it to pay a few thousand euros if need be to talk to a lawyer about the situation.


Title: (Florida) Mistake on death certificate:

Question:
My 25-year stepson died unexpectedly this year.  In the days immediately following his death, I (obviously) had to call a funeral home to make arrangements.  The person asked my name and a bunch of pertinent questions regarding my stepson.  I answered them.  As it turns out, they were entering the information onto his death certificate and they put me down as his mother.  We didn't know this until we received copies of the death certificate.  We immediately called a lawyer to see if we needed to get it changed but he said it wasn't a big deal.  We let it go.  Now, 8 months after his death, his birth mother has called and is threatening to sue us for damages for "falsifying legal documents" and is threatening to have my husband arrested for a third-degree felony for it.

We immediately contacted the medical examiner and the funeral home.  They sent us the paperwork to file an amended death certificate.

Is she able to sue us for this?  What else can we do?

Answer:
 >My 25-year stepson died unexpectedly this year.

I'm very sorry for your family's loss. My son was the same age when we lost him in an accident, it's devastating. I can imagine his mom had a strong emotional reaction seeing the error. I can imagine I may have overreacted emotionally as well under the same conditions. I would just make sure the document is corrected and apologize for the error. I think she may calm down on this issue.

Logically if she heard the details of how it happened, she knows it wasn't intentional, emotions often doesn't see logic. Often it's easier to focus on another issue rather than face the fact that this unimaginable, devastating loss has occurred, parents should **never** have to bury their child. I'm truly so very sorry.   Answer #2: Can she sue? Sure. Will she win anything significant? Unlikely. Work to fix it as quickly as you can. Keep proof of what your are doing just in case she sues.


Title: Employer keeping our credit card tips

Question: I live in GA where we follow Federal laws when it comes to labor and whatnot and from what I understand whether your a "tipped" employee or full minimum wage employee it is against the law for the owner of our restaurants to keep our tips. He is claiming that credit card tips are his and then told me off for informing a customer when they asked if we got the tip if he put it onto the credit card and I said no. He told me if I wanted to keep my job I would be "honest" which was code for keep my mouth shut. Am I wrong? If he is doing this illegally where do I report him?

Answer: You are entitled to the tips.  It is illegal for the company or managers to keep them.


Title: Dad died without a will. Stepmom taking everything. Anything I can do?

Question: My dad died in October of 2018. I am his only biological child (I'm an adult). He did not have a will written. My step mom has taken everything from his estate, which was over $300,000. I didn't find this out until recently. I just assumed he had too much debt and didn't have anything left to be divided up. She has already moved a new boyfriend into their house and is selling my dad's possessions. Is there anything I can do at this point, or has it been too long to legally do anything?

Answer: You can pursue her for what was stolen. Talk to a probate attorney about how to proceedAnswer #2: Is your dad listed as your father on your birth certificate?


Title: I want to set up a face to face meeting with my abusive father. [MA]

Question:
For starters, I’m not a minor, and even if I was, my mom’s on board with me. My parents are divorced, I live with my mom, he is my biological father, and I’m gonna be vague with any detail because he works as a tech consultant and probably at least knows this sub exists, and his current wife’s in the legal system and definitely knows this sub exists. As for the abuse, just know that it was ongoing, bad, and the only reason he wasn’t convicted was because the judge told the jury something to the effect of “Think about how charges like this will ruin this good father’s life.” I know, that’s illegal, but there’s nothing we can do. (Unless there is, in which case, please let me know, because I’d love to see the justice system work as intended.)

The reason I’m asking for legal advice on this is that I think there might be legal procedures for setting up a face to face meeting, and I know the courthouses around here provide spaces and staff to make them possible. I have a no contact order against him, which is great, and I want to know how that would factor into all this. Is voluntary contact an exception to that sort of thing? Would the order still be valid after that?

On top of all this, he’s a scary guy. Like, even if you don’t know him. He’s got a hair trigger, he’s a serial sexist, racist, narcissist, etc. Is it possible for me to get a cop or someone similar in the room?

And now, to prevent PMs and comments...
“But Cap, why do you want to see this guy again?”

Short answer: I want answers.

More accurate answer: That’s what I tell myself, but honestly I’m not sure I know. Regardless, respond to this post assuming that I will eventually want to meet him again.

If you guys can’t help, that’s cool, we’ve got a family lawyer who’s expensive, but she’s a busy gal and I’d rather not trouble her with this at the moment. I’m going to go to her when the time comes that I actually want to do this in the near future. For now, though, anyone know anything about how this can go down?

(P.S. I can basically guarantee he wants to see me, he set up a creepy web shrine to me, and randomly sends letters insisting he loves me, even though he gave me PTSD and refused to pay his child support. He’s also tried to access my medical information by changing our insurance to his at nearly every pharmacy in the area, though we found out he had before he found anything out.)
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 If you have a no contact order against him, then he cannot legally meet with you without violating it, and from your description of him it sounds like meeting with him would not be safe for you.

I get the feeling this isn't what you want to hear, but I've been there. I have PTSD. I was eventually able to ask my abuser for answers and he gave them to me. They didn't satisfy me, they didn't change anything that happened to me, and they didn't help me or make me feel any better.


Title: /r/legaladvice hits 40K subscribers

Question:
**/r/legaladvice metrics:**

Total Subscribers: 40,361

Subreddit Rank: 910

Subreddit Growth & Milestones: http://redditmetrics.com/r/legaladvice

Answer:
 So can I get the weed the cops illegally seized or not?  I told them they could search my car, not the trunk, and their flag had a gold fringe on it anyway.Answer #2: I feel like I helped contribute to this. I am 1/40,000th of the solution.Answer #3: To the twelve attorneys on this sub - thanks!

IANAL


Title: [RI] Car Accident While Delivering Pizza, Currently Being Sued by Woman Who Was Hit

Question:
Ok so let me start by saying I'm posting this for a friend so I may not have some details right away if anyone has any questions.

My friend was delivering pizza for a local pizza place and was in a pretty nasty head on collision that he was at fault for. Once his insurance company found out he was in the accident while delivering pizza they pretty much said they weren't going to pay for anything. He has since left the pizza place and they won't return any of his calls about the issue. He has received a collections notice for $14,000 from a collection agency the woman's insurance company must have went to to get their money. He also just recently received a court summons in the mail saying he is being sued for bodily injury.

So my question is who is liable in this situation?

Answer: And this is why it's critically important to get coverage that extends to commercial use when you're using your vehicle to deliver pizza, drive for Lyft, or participate in demolition derbies.


Title: Am I responsible for my aunts debt after she passed away? [PA]

Question:
I was the power of attorney in Pennsylvania for my aunt (never married, no children, no surviving parents or siblings), who recently passed away. She did not have a will and was essentially bankrupt, having used up all of her savings and spending her entire income from social security and a pension on living expenses (nursing home).

At the time of her death, she owed money to the nursing home and they are trying to collect from me. She did have a modest life insurance policy, with my brother and I as beneficiaries (50/50), that we have cashed in.

My question is, am I and/or my brother responsible for the outstanding debt to the nursing home?
Thanks

Answer: Life insurance proceeds to named beneficiaries (not the estate) generally cannot be reached by creditors to pay the estate's debts. Also, just because someone is a POA, they do not take on personal financial responsibility for the other person's debts. Answer #2: No. You're not liable unless you did something nefarious with the assets of her estate.


Title: Second underage drinking ticket. Would like to know my options

Question:
About a month ago I got my second underage in Madison, WI. Here's what exactly happened:

I was outside Camp Randall (huge football stadium) before a Wisconsin football game. There were huge parties up and down the street, beer bongs everywhere, the lawn infront of properties were literally muddy from beer. I step outside a house party holding a cup, and see cops about 15 yards away on the sidewalk. I quickly go around the corner of the house and toss my cup. Amongst the 60 people or so around me, I'm surrounded by a couple cops who begin to question me. "Are you underage?" Is the first question a cop asked me. I tell them politely that I'm on a tight schedule and ask if I'm free to go. They say no. I ask if I'm being detained. The first cop grabs my arm and she says I can't leave. They ask for my id and I present it to them. They see that I'm 18 and ask where I got the alcohol. I tell them I got my cup a couple blocks away but never admit to drinking. They say they can smell it on me and that they're writing me a ticket. I contacted a lawyer and paralegal at my university's legal clinic and requested a phone hearing pre-trial with a public defendant.

r/legaladvice, what are my chances of being able to appeal this ticket?

Answer:
 Have you considered not drinking underage? Or at least, not doing it in public where cops can catch you?

After getting ticketed for this once, what made you think it was a good idea a second time?

You're going to have a hell of a time fighting a charge you are guilty of and have been charged with before.


Title: (tx) Might be getting a roommate for the first time ever, what should I have him/her sign?

Question:
I always like to ask questions first than to hear about the horror stories about going thru an eviction process etc.

What should be signed?
How should payment be made, is cash acceptable?

Answer: I assume you own the home? you should get a lease drafted by an attorney, it'll probably be about 250-500, and they shoulda also explain your obligations. this lease will save you a headache if it goes south, and if its all good still gives you peace of mind.


Title: So here's my situation, need legal advice, stat! Thanks for the help, situation is in the text below.

Question: Here's the situation, many years ago I married a certain female that turned out to be some kinda psycho. We had a child in the mix as well on top of that. I left because of how crazy she is pretty much, not because of the child (whom I pay child support for to this day) but because of her unstable piece of mind. We had our differences, I made a few mistakes and she got me for them in court and slammed two charges on me. Well, I realized finally that maybe I should just keep my mouth shut and move on, which is what I did. I met a beautiful person who I am married to now, and we are about to have a child of our own. I happily married now and ready to move on with my life. Well, that doesnt go so well with my ex-wife. I always try to call her to let her know about child support issues, I've just recently called her, to let her know that the child im about to have may interfere with child support now. As in, I must have it reduced (the child support) to take care of my soon to be daughter. After I got off the phone with her, my wife gets a message on facebook from my ex-wifes significant other saying "Hey couldnt find your husbands profile but I want to congrats you on the baby and hopefully he'll be an actual father this time". So now its gotten to me, and this kind of I would like to say "harassment" if I can, has been going on for so many years. As if, they cant get over the fact that im happy and ive moved on so they feel they must put their smartass input in to piss me off (which worked). The message that I explained that was received by my wife by my ex-wifes significant other, would that be considered harassment? Can I file some sort of restraining order on them that would explain "Hey if you contact these people again, your done." Thank you.

Answer:
 No. You can file a restraining order but from your story you initiated this. If you believe your support needs to be modified you contact the court, not your ex-wife. Frankly, I do not blame your ex. You think I am crazy, left me, and now you call to say your marrying someone else and, oh bytheway, I am going to try to reduce my support obligation. Be advised, not every state looks at you moving on with your life as a reason to lower your obligation to your child.

In short, no she has not harassed you nor your spouse. Do not contact her in future, if she contacts you in future feel free to tell her not to do so. Then, if she persists, you may have some harassment. You do not need her in order to seek a modification of your support obligation.Answer #2: >I've just recently called her, to let her know that the child im about to have may interfere with child support now.

Looks like you initiated the contact.  This certainly is not harassment by any stretch of the imagination.


Title: If a judge is travelling out of state and gets pulled over can he order the cop anything?

Question: California

Answer: No. Judges can't give orders to cops on the street even if they are in their own jurisdiction. An officer is more likely to listen to a judge but they have no actual authority.


Title: Worried about strict Muslim parents hiding my personal documents/draining my bank account if I try to leave my house, what can I do? (Ontario, Canada)

Question:
I'm a 19 year old female university student with parents that are very much against me moving out. They are the type of people that think kids shouldn't leave their parents' homes until they are married - despite the fact that my father attended university in a different country. I live a couple of hours away from a major, really good university, but they made me stay at home to attend a less prestigious school. Next year, I plan on taking advantage of a great opportunity to study overseas then get my own apartment when I come back home even if it means amassing debt if they cut me off financially.

I’m legally an adult and should be able to do what I want. However, worst case scenario if I can't convince them to allow me to go I could see them taking important documents (SIN card, passport, health card, etc) away from me by force and even draining my bank account since they have access to it. They currently have my debit and credit cards in their possession. I also have two younger siblings, so I'm afraid of tearing my family apart by taking any major legal action but I really need to leave. How can I prevent them from physically/logistically interfering with me leaving?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 I wrote a _huge_ post about this [a couple of months back](/r/legaladvice/comments/4sez0v/faking_a_suicide_is_illegal_but_does_it_depend_on/d58tuwt) (plus some [bonus information](/r/legaladvice/comments/4sez0v/faking_a_suicide_is_illegal_but_does_it_depend_on/d58uh1h) on organizations in Hamilton, if you're in that area). _All of your documents can be replaced_, but it's easier (and cheaper) if you take them and keep them somewhere safe. Similarly, it's much easier if you open a new bank account of your own and move your money _before_ your parents decide to drain the accounts you have access to than it is to sort that out after.

You moving out will not tear your family apart. Your parents' reactions might, but those reactions are _theirs_ to make, not yours. Seek out support networks to deal with the emotional fallout - just because your parents are the asshole in that equation doesn't make it easy.

If your parents try to physically restrain you from leaving, _call the cops_. It's super, super illegal to do that.


Title: My wife left me on August 21st, and was 16 weeks pregnant. Baby due on Feb 3rd. Neither of us have filed for divorce as the state of TX will not finalize it when the wife is pregnant.

Question: She has a kid that is 18, this is my first. We have said nasty things to each other, and she has done some disgusting things to me ( have doubts it's my child)2 weeks after she left she was already sleeping with and living with another man, who is her co-worker and was my friend. What are my rights, and what steps should I take?

Answer:
 You have no rights until the baby is born.  Afterwards, you will be entitled to some form of visitation/custody and be expected to pay child support.

If you want a DNA test, get it done as part of the divorce.


Title: Is this fraud?

Question: So i sold an iphone x to someone for 735$ and i shipped it to them. They said they paid it was just processing the payment through paypal. But i yet to recieve payment after 48 hours. They said they would send me bank statements saying the payment went through but they have neglected to send to them to me and now are ignoring me. Is this fraud or scamming? What can i do about this.

Answer: Next time don't send anything until the money is confirmed in your account. This screams fraud to me.


Title: Maintenance worker fell through my ceiling, in an apartment built in the 70s. What are the next steps I should take?

Question:
I got a call at work that a maintenance worker fell through the ceiling at my apartment. I still need to go through and made sure none of my stuff was damaged and to clean whatever they did not get.

They started patching it up and sent someone to clean up the crap on the floor pretty quickly but I had to return to work. The building was built in 1974 and I read in [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/77b92b/landlord_threatening_to_evict_me_if_i_test_the/) post where everyone is saying "it is ok if it is not disturbed"

Well this was most certainly disturbed. So what should I do/ask my landlord? I want them to test it but what happens if they find asbestos? My apartment is absolutely covered in drywall and insulation crap.

This is in AZ, USA.

Answer:
 You don't have to treat your apartment like a fallout zone: the cancer risk from asbestos is linked to sustained long-term exposure. I would just make sure they thoroughly clean your place with a HEPA vacuum, and then thoroughly air the place out for a while, then think about testing for safety's sake

A professional asbestos test can cost a few hundred, but there are mail-in options that are much cheaper. If they find asbestos has been released into the air in your apartment, your LL might be required to mitigate it somehow, which would result in you being out of your apartment for as long as it takes them to do so.


Title: My neighbors dog barks but not enough to be in violation of the noise codes.

Question:
My neighbor has a dog and they just put it outside for 15-20 minutes about 5x a day.

The dog will bark for about 5 minutes at a time and then stop.

This isn't in violation of the noise codes because the dog has to be barking for more than 30 minutes.

We've tried asking them to stop (politely) but after asking them to stop 2-3x they just told us to "fuck off".

My plan was to sue them in small claims court for damages since this interrupts our sleep and I work from home and it's distracting.

Is this a plausible path to take? Any other advice?

I don't want any drama here - I just want to enjoy my life but this is very annoying and distracting.

Answer:
 Dog Law specialist here.

You have no case. Answer #2: Really? What if it were kids playing basketball outside every day? Could you sue them then? What about the airplanes overhead? What about a revving motorcycle? An ice cream truck?
Point being - grow up. Unless you live in a cave in the mountains there are outside noises. Five minutes a few times a day is just being a dog.
How about being a grown up?


Title: How can we reverse my stepdaughters emancipation?

Question: My 16 year old stepdaughter is emancipated. Her mom and me tried to stop it but the court didn't listen. This has been really upsetting for her mom and for me too. Her mom wants to have this reversed because it makes her look like a bad mom even though she was never even charged with abuse or neglect or anything. How do we appeal this to get it reversed? We live in Florida.

Answer: If only trolling were a felony...Answer #2: You can't, that's the whole point.


Title: Help! Arrested at customs for illegal drugs I bought in London OTC (NJ)

Question:
I had to go to London for 8 days for work.  I felt a little off on the flight over and by day 2, it was a full fledged cold.  I went to a nearby Boots pharmacy (I guess like the UK version of CVS) and asked the pharmicist what they recommended.  She immediately grabbed [this](http://www.boots.com/en/Day-Night-Nurse-Capsules-24-Pack_11410/), I paid, and walked out.  Turns out her recommendation was right because I was able to get through the rest of the trip with almost no symptoms as long as I kept taking the pills 4x day.

Right before I left, I needed more pills, so I grabbed another pack, threw them in my carry on and headed to Gatwick.  When I got to Newark, i was asked to step aside for further screening and long story short, after going through my bags, CBP found the cold pills and told me that it was illegal for me to bring them into the US.

I told them it was just OTC cold pills no different than sudafed but they said that it was just as bad as if I smuggled in heroin.  Long story short, I got arrested and after a few hours of hell, was given some papers and told that I had a court date that I could not miss.

My question is now what do I do?  I haven't told my boss about any of this because I don't know how he'd react and I need my job.   I definitely didn't intend to smuggle any drugs and I still don't understand why sudafed pills were even such a big deal.  I wasn't hiding anything and didnt even need a prescription.  How do I show the judge that these were just OTC pills in London?  Can I print out the website for the pharmacy?  It's been a few days since I got home and I'm still freaking out.

Answer:
 You're going to need a lawyer.  The drugs being legal in the UK is not a defense for bringing them into the U.S.  Answer #2: It looks like the thing that is tripping you up is that the pills also contain Pholcodine; which is a schedule 1 controlled substance in the US, but in the U.K. can be sold OTC without a prescription, as long as you speak to the pharmacist.

Ultimately, this is one of the things you have to be careful about. There are many places in the world where extra strength Tylenol is illegal to posses, because of the high risk of liver damage if abused. Different countries have different laws. You should have discarded the medicine, and picked up some DayQuil/Nightquil when you got back here to the US. Answer #3: Please post an update with what happens next.Answer #4: How many were you trying to bring back? I was under the impression that you were allowed up to 50 pills of a controlled substance.

https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/fed_regs/rules/2004/fr0914.htm


Title: Fired within a week of giving my two week notice

Question:
I just got "fired" (he didn't say I was fired directly and didn't give me a pink slip or any notice like that but told me "leave my restaurant") after turning in my written two week notice last Friday. How should I follow up? Can this hurt me if in the future an employer calls for references? I've never been fired and am not sure what to do.

Edit:

Updated info:

In Phoenix, AZ.

Legal question. Should I pursue to verify that I am not listed as being fired? Is there legal recourse to ensure that I wasn't actually fired? Is there even such thing as being legally fired?

Answer: It's extremely common to be let go after giving notice and before the date you provide. There's nothing wrong with it. Being fired doesn't go on a list anywhere. You're fine.


Title: (Missouri) On good faith, i let my husband take my daughter for a visit.... It's been 3 weeks since I've seen her.

Question:
I am staying in a domestic violence shelter. Old habits die hard, my husband sweet talked me into taking my child for one week.

It's been over a month since I've seen her. I barely get a 2 minute phone call once per day.

Is this parental alienation? If so, how does a judge usually look at that behavior?

Answer:
 Is there a custody order in place?

That should be step one.

Also, you need to work on getting yourself in a stable situation so you can provide a safe and stable place for her to live- the courts are unlikely to give you custody if you're bouncing from shelter to shelter.Answer #2: Assuming there's not a court order in place establishing custody and parenting time, he's not breaking the law. But denying meaningful contact with the other parent is generally seen as a bad thing in family court. It will make it more likely the court will limit his parenting time with her or even require that it be supervised.


Title: A friend has a low-paying job for our area (around $50K) and his wife of 12 years makes over $150K. She hates him and wants to leave. She just inherited millions from family. No pre-nup. What's gonna happen? California.

Question:
I only have some of the info here.

She just inherited millions (not sure how much) from family. No pre-nup, she told him that she refuses to give him a penny of it. She works in banking and says that she will place it in a special account and not co-mingle it with the household funds, and that means she can keep it all.

I'm not saying he has a right to anything (although she is the aggressor in the relationship, WOW is she a meanie!!)

I'm just wondering what he might walk away with if they separate?

2 kids, I'm trying to push him for 50/50 custody/visitation.

For all the people out there that love a good story; He is meek and quiet, she is type 1 and super controlling. She treats him like shit and constantly tells him he is worthless and that she will do everything she can to crush his spirit before she leaves him and that she will take everything they own (cars, house, kids). I have been through a divorce and I know the system (a tiny bit). I'm trying to guide him through all of it.

I know he needs an attorney. I'm working on that...

Thanks

Answer:
 >She just inherited millions (not sure how much) from family. No pre-nup, she told him that she refuses to give him a penny of it. She works in banking and says that she will place it in a special account and not co-mingle it with the household funds, and that means she can keep it all.

She's correct.  Inheritances are separate property.

>I'm just wondering what he might walk away with if they separate?

The same as anyone else -- half the community property and anything that is his separate property.

Given their disparity in income, he can ask for spousal support, and will probably get it for a limited time.  If they do 50/50 custody (which he should ask for if it's what he truly wants -- not as a way to minimize his child support) then she will probably end up paying some support to him.

>For all the people out there that love a good story; He is meek and quiet, she is type 1 and super controlling. She treats him like shit and constantly tells him he is worthless and that she will do everything she can to crush his spirit before she leaves him and that she will take everything they own (cars, house, kids).

Really, none of that matters.  Divorces only have to be miserable if the parties insist on making them miserable.  Most divorces/custody matters are settled with the help of a mediator.Answer #2: She's right, and she clearly knows how to protect it. It's separate property, not community property.


Title: [Iowa] Want to sue Verizon for allowing someone to spoof my sim card and stealing my bitcoins.

Question:
I will try to explain this as best as I can, I had a gmail account and that gmail account was also tied to my verizon account. Someone was socially engineered at verizon by a hacker who was pretending to be me with no real actual verification it was me.

The hacker called verizon, somehow convinced verizon they were me, funny they didn't even have access to my phone number or my gmail at that point, so how could they do that without some mistakes make on the employees part? The hacker then gained access to my verizon account and asked verizon to forward their calls to a new fresh phone using a new sim card. Therefore gaining access to my email and finding the back up password to my wallet in my gmail. They used the phone forwarding to gain access to the alternate email to my gmail, therefore gaining access to my gmail.

I did not say how much I had online publicly, I never gave out my phone number, my password was incredibly difficult, I had two step enabled on my gmail, Verizon failed me, and I want to pursue this full force. I have read stories online and this isn't the first time phone companies have been fooled.

I don't even know if I can sue Verizon, someone has to be liable though.

I actually spoke to the person who claimed to steal my items, he gave me my email back after he took my coins. Explaining to me he has someone working at verizon who apparently does this for him/her.

I am 100% sure no one had my account number every verizon customer unless Verizon gave it to the person responsible.

Answer:
 >I actually spoke to the person who claimed to steal my items, he gave me my email back after he took my coins. Explaining to me he has someone working at verizon who apparently does this for him/her.

I would bet dollars to donuts this person lied to you.

Why would you believe a single word from a person who stole from you?Answer #2: > I don't even know if I can sue Verizon, someone has to be liable though.

Someone is liable: The hacker.


Title: Sibling stole all the family photos when dad died

Question:
Dad left 1/3 to each of his kids in his will. That was 1/3 of all money and personal possessions (save for a separate account to benefit the grandkids).

My sister had access to dad's apartment so she went in there before I arrived and took boxes full of all of the family photos. These are photos of my grandparents, my parents when they were young, and me and all of my siblings during childhood. Naturally, photos of this nature have mostly sentimental, rather than monetary, value.

I did not realize until months later that we had not come across the photos when I visited the apartment twice to go through dad's belongings. There was no discussion of them when the apartment was later cleared out by my sister. When I inquired my sister said she thought that I did not want them (untrue, plus she never asked prior to taking possession of them), nor does she want to share them!

I don't feel this is an issue of "sharing," I think I actually am entitled to 1/3 of the photos (besides for this being the fair, equitable, and kind way to distribute dad's belongings). To be clear, I don't feel the originals can be replaced by copies because they won't look or feel the same.

My stance is that we all "like" photos (just like we all like money or jewelry) but just because you "like" something doesn't mean it's your right to keep 100% of it! I am aghast that she just grabbed them and ran with no consideration for me or my other sibling.

What are my rights and what recourse do I have? As far as I am concerned, it seems like my sister has stolen belongings from my dad's estate, and taken advantage of the fact that she is local and had access to his apartment while I live out of town. I did not get any extra items in lieu of the photos.

We all like photos, but why should one person have all of them? Why would a court justify that she can keep all when I get "none."

State dad was in is Massachusetts.

Answer:
 Ask her if you could get some of them and reprint them and return them to her. Let her have them all.

There is a saying, ... you don't know someone until you go through probate with them.


Title: I work at Starbucks and am having issues regarding labor hour restrictions.

Question:
As the title says, I'm a 17 year old working at a Starbucks in Arizona. I was told by one store manager that company policy takes precedent over state law and since the company says I can only work 28 hours or less,  I can't work any more, regardless of state law.

I've never had this problem with any of my other managers, and I've been working 30-40 hours for the last year or so and can easily keep up with school and such.

I know that Arizona state law has no such hour restrictions so I am curious about a couple things.

1.) Which takes precedent in these cases: company policy or state law? Is there written proof of this anywhere?
2.) Is there any way for me to go about proving my point that I should be allowed to work more than 28 hours?

Answer:
 A law will always trump a company policy.

That being said, the law doesn't say that you have to be allowed to work X numbers of hours. It may place a ceiling on the number of hours you can work, but not a floor.

So company policy may be that you can only work 28 hours and that's perfectly fine as it doesn't conflict with the law.


Title: Denied job because "team was not comfortable about situation with my brother"

Question:
Had a job interview for a company that my brother worked for years ago. It is a temporary contract and my brother quit only giving 1 week notice.

After being denied the job I wasn't sure what went wrong so I messaged the woman I had the interview on LinkedIn asking for feedback, she said the following:

"Your interview was fine. To be honest, some in the team were not completely comfortable hiring you after what had happened with your brother. I had no issues other than that.

I’m sorry to disappoint, but I had to rely on my team’s perspective since we all rely on each other to work well.

Good luck in your search! I’ll keep you in mind if I hear of anything else. The company itself has been posting a lot of positions on the corporate website. "

While she was very nice about the situation I feel like this is unfair and some sort of discrimination.

Is there a case here or not? (I can give more info if necessary)

Answer:
 >I feel like this is unfair and some sort of discrimination.

You're right. It is unfair. It is discrimination. You were discriminated against because of your brother's actions.

However, being related to your brother is not a protected class, and the discrimination is not illegal.

Only discrimination on the basis of a protected class is illegal.


Title: How series is it for a restaurant to falsely advertise their hours?

Question:
Not really serious I assume.

More info on this specific situation:
I live in Utah and there is a chain of Mexican restaurants in the area that are known for being open 24 hours a day. A (fairly) new one opened in my city and they have on the billboard, front door and sign on top of the building that they are also open 24 hours a day but they aren't. I went there last night at 1:30 am and they were closed.

Now there are many reasons I can think of for them to be closed so I went in today to ask the manager what the situation was, like did their only chef call in sick or something. She told me that that location is never open 24 hours a day because they don't have enough night traffic and would lose money to stay open.

I understand that different locations of the same chain can and do have different hours. But this one had on it's building that they were a 24 hour store. When I mentioned this, she explained that the chain requires they advertise 24 hours so that people will know to try a different location. I tried to explain that at the very least, they needed to post what that specific stores hours were. She told me that that store was owned by her sister, she was just one of the managers, and that her sister said the chain would not allow her to post different hours, again because it would confuse people on the hours of their other locations.

Am I right in assuming they are absolutely wrong, and is there anything I can do to make them post their correct hours? I know this isn't a huge issue and I don't want or think I can take any legal action, I just want them to post their correct hours.

tl:dr Local chain is known for being open 24 hours. One specific store is not even though their signs say they are. How can I make them post the correct hours?

Answer:
 The other day I went to one of my favorite little cafes for a late lunch. I checked online before going and their website said, "Open 9am to 11pm." When I arrived, I was turned away at the door and told they were closed from 2-4pm to prep for the dinner rush.

Between your situation and mine, this is getting out of hand and we should sue everyone involved.

Or, you know, we could just go to other establishments instead.


Title: [Germany]Landlord just asked us to pay 900€ as additional cost for heating costs for 2016 which is way too much in my opinion.

Question: Hi. I'm from Germany and I need some advice on how to handle this. A couple of days ago our landlord sent us a letter which stated that we should pay 900€ something as additional payment for the whole year in 2016. This is completely ridiculous, since we are in our apartment 5/7 days of the week, if not less, and sometimes we will not be in the apartment for weeks. I always make sure that my heater is turned off when I leave, same goes for my mates who live here. How is that even possible to garner such high costs when we aren't ever in the apartment for at least 70 days per year? When we moved in our rate was 680€ warm per month, now mathematically that would be 780 per month, much more than advertised, even though it was said that 680 was already with heating and such. The people who live a floor below us live there the whole year, and I cannot imagine that they would pay 1500€+ as additional payment just for heating. Is this a common thing or are we getting screwed for our money? For context, this is our first appartment, we are three students who moved there for studying in a university and we've been living there since October 2015.

Answer: I lived in Germany for three years before coming to the US. You definitely need to ask for evidence that the the bill is actually this high, and even if it is, if you haven't been using as much energy as this suggests, you should speak to a lawyer. There may have been a mistake at the energy company's end or whatever, but don't just pay without investigating. Do you have legal insurance?


Title: Neighbors sold my dog, don't know how to get him back

Question:
Locale is Texas

I have two dogs.  One is a puppy I got only a month ago.

Recently while I was at work one of my neighbors tree branches fell onto the fence (owned by me) that divides our yards.  This is not a surprise the tree is dead and the branch has been hanging on by a thread for a while now.  I have told them many times that they should get something done about it before it becomes a problem but they insisted the tree was fine.

It wasn't, and the fence pretty much became dilapidated.  My big dog is trained enough to stay put but the puppy is still a free spirit.  According to the neighbors he went over the broken down fence into their yard.  They considered this my fault and that I was too irresponsible to keep him in my yard - even though it's their tree (which I warned them was going to fall several times in writing and in person over the last several months) is what broke the fence.

When I came home he was nowhere to be found.  I looked for him a while, and then started knocking on doors asking if anyone had seen him.  My neighbor's yard isn't completely fenced so he could have gotten anywhere.

The neighbor said they did not see him.  However, one of their young kids piped up saying "yes we did!" and ultimately I learned that my neighbor actually SOLD my dog.  She posted about him on a pet group on Facebook and I was even able to find her post.  She stated in the post that her neighbor "can't take care of his dog" so she is "helping out" by finding a new home for him.

She sold him for $200 which is a steal for a purebred German Shepherd puppy, so she got a ton of offers fast.  He was off to a new home by noon from what I can tell by the post.

I got the new owner's information based on their Facebook page.  I sent a message, which they "saw" but didn't respond to.  I then tried calling and eventually I was able to get their address and go to their house.  I saw my dog there but they refused to release him to me saying they purchased him fair and square.

I tried going to the police but they said it's a civil matter to work out between ourselves.

What can I do?  I know I could sue my neighbors for the value of the dog but I don't just want $800.  I want my actual dog back.

Answer: You can always go to the media and present your case.  Explain to them what happened and tell them that the police didn't do anything.  I've seen it in my area where landlords, businesses, or city didn't do anything and suddenly with media attention, they solve the problem within a few days.Answer #2: Post to the same Facebook group that your dog was stolen, and sold there. The community will come to your support and the actual purchaser might give in without a legal fight. Perhaps even reimburse them for the dog.


Title: (NE) My neighbor is mowing my lawn without permission

Question:
A bit of background: I'm an 18 year old senior in high school who is about to graduate in a few weeks. My mother, who I had been living with for around 3 years since my parents' divorce, passed away last December. My father lives and works in South Dakota and wasn't able to move back in with me, so I currently live with my uncle in the same house.

The Problem: as a family we were never that great at doing yard work, and with the stress of my mother's death and upcoming IB exams, mowing the lawn just hasn't been my priority. However, I'll be moving out of state for college, which means the house will be sold, so I'm having a lawn service come in and rectify the situation to make the property look presentable. They haven't come yet though, and today I saw my neighbor in the process of mowing part of my lawn through my window. I stepped outside and asked her why she felt the need to do what she was doing, and she very passively aggressively stated that my lack of lawn care was making the neighborhood look bad, and went on to criticize my late mother for being lazy (she knows full well that my mom is dead). I kept my cool while I was talking to her, but I'm furious. Is there anything I can do legally?

Answer: You can tell her to get off the property and call the police if she trespasses.


Title: I was accidentally gifted a stranger's cremains this weekend. What in the heck do I do now?

Question:
I'm not quite sure where to start with this, at all, so I'll just start.  I live here in the United States, Colorado.

On Saturday my mom gave me three boxes of WW2-era material that she found at (I believe) a VFW in one town over, after some kind of auction or sale.  She stated that the boxes had not sold and that she was given them for free.  They were about to be put in the dumpster, I believe, though I want to confirm this.  She knows that I like WW2 things, so she grabbed it all without looking through it and gave it to me when we went to see her this last Saturday.  I only now, this evening, got to going through all the boxes.

The boxes contained items relating to a U.S. soldier from New Jersey who died in Europe in WW2.  He was drafted, trained, and was killed in action, all in 1944.  He served with the 101st Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division, the Yankee Division.  He died in France, and was temporarily buried there, and then brought home in 1948.  He was then re-buried in Lancaster PA.  He had married his wife in 1936, and they had their only son in 1936.  She later remarried and started a second family, but before doing so brought his body home.  He is buried in Pennsylvania.

The first and most important thing I found was a framed Purple Heart medal, along with the lapel ribbon and pin.  This was unexpected and a big shock.  These are important, they're not supposed to be thrown away, they're supposed to go with and stay with family.  So I started looking through the box to find details on the family.  I found what I told you above, that he'd been married, and that they'd had a son.  I could not find any trace of the son in modern times.  No internet presence, no find-a-grave entry, nothing.  So I kept digging.

In the box I found hundreds and hundreds of other items:

*     draft notices
*     physical fitness evaluation results
*     several photo albums
*     framed photographs of he and his wife
*     training material relating to his start in the Army
*     Letters written home from training, from war, from family members also in the services
*     cards, training booklets
*     Military patches
*     insurance policies
*     Letters home from Europe
*     a telegram to his widow that he had been killed in Europe
*     His returned personal effects (a wallet, and a pen)
*     the man's framed Purple Heart Medal, ribbon bar, and lapel pin as I said, but I found that the medal was engraved with his name.
*     and the ashes of the man's only son.  They're here in my house right now.

I have found that the soldier's widow's second marriage produced a daughter, and this daughter is listed as living one town over the other way from the town where my mom got this stuff, and her son is also living in the area.  I have not been able to get a response from her, I am going to try him tomorrow.  I am unsure about how these boxes came to be given away at a place two towns over.

These boxes contained the entirety of a man's adult life, including the remains of his only son.  These boxes were nearly put into a dumpster, from what my mom tells me.  It all would have been lost.  And now it's on me.

* Do I have any right to make a determination about these remains?
* Am I in any legal danger?
* Who should I tell about this?
* If the family does not want to take the cremains back, what am I legally obligated to do?

EDIT: I have a tentative plan.  I know where the soldier is buried, and I am calling there today to see what it would cost to get these remains interred with his father.  The Purple Heart material doesn't have any value besides historical, but it is important.  I'm going to be talking to the Purple Heart Society today to see if they can help with the material.

EDIT 2: I believe I've found a nephew of the man, or great-nephew.  I'm going to try to track him down today.  oh man, if I can get this stuff back to the family then that would be ideal.  That'd be so great.

**SUPER EDIT**

I found a relative online via Ancestry who'd posted a copy of one of the pictures in this box, and the last name was the same, which was very much a relief.  I managed to get hold of him via Facebook, and he told me that the veteran was his grandfather, and the cremains were those of his father.  These things had been lost decades ago during an acrimonious family feud where a half-sister had gotten a number of things and then left that part of the country.  The main family lost all trace of her, and thought all this stuff had been lost forever.  They apparently were talking about it just this last weekend, wishing they could even just learn about the stuff, much less get it back, to find out what happened.  I spoke to the man personally, the grandson, and all of this material including the remains of his father are going back to him tomorrow, and will be there before Christmas.

Answer:
 You're not in any legal danger, to answer your question. The ghost might haunt your house though, so make sure to hang garlic and put salt on the window sills.Answer #2: You do realize that the widows daughter and her son have no relation whatsoever to the soldier. Why not try to find nephews/nieces/someone actually related to the soldier if you want to give his family his belongings back?

Edit. Just realized you're trying to give the ashes to his sons sister but not his stuff.Answer #3: [CO cremated remains disposal](https://durangoherald.com/articles/100144-before-spreading-ashes-on-public-lands-check-the-rules) will give you some idea on how to dispose of the cremains if you are unable to locate interested family members.


Title: [IN] Mother threatening to sue for money. Should I be concerned?

Question:
I am not sure how much detail is needed, but I want to keep this brief. Please let me know if there is anything I should add.

tldr: mother threatening to sick attorney on me for repayment. I have a gift letter signed by her that money was a gift. some other various details that may make this hard.

My mother gave me a couple thousand dollars a few years ago to help me with a downpayment on my house. She signed a gift letter for it.

She has harassed me over the years to pay her back because she "needed the money," so I did send her some money a couple times to get her to leave me alone. I later learned she was sending money and expensive gifts to my brother. She makes decent money, lives in a nicer house than mine, and wastes a lot of money ordering BS, which is why she offered to give the money in the first place.

I never signed anything agreeing to give her money, but I did write balances in the memo section on checks from the amount she gave. She also wants me to send her money every month to offset a loan she took out in her name to help with my college expenses (she was obligated by the divorce paperwork to pay for my college).

I finally went no contact with her about 8 months ago because she is really emotionally abusive, and I finally got sick of it. She has only ever tried to contact me for money since then.

Now, she is threatening to sick a lawyer on me to send her money.

Do I need to worry about this since I did send her money or will the gift letter end her case?

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

edit to clarify: She specified at the time of giving me the money that she did not expect repayment. She changed her mind later. She did the same thing with the loan she took out. I told her I didn't want to take her money if she was going to hold it over me or expect it back.

Answer: She gave you a gift.  You gave her a gift.  If she sues you, then you will have to defend.  Most people who say they will sue do not.


Title: (FL) A doctor is sueing me for the loss of his practice after I reported him to Medicaid.

Question:
I just got served this morning.

He was charging $200 on top of what he was billing Medicaid. I reported him for that and somehow he ended up losing his practice. He wants $3 million.

Obviously I'm getting a lawyer but I can't see him till Monday. I'm just trying to make my weekend a little less stressful.

What's likely to happen? Can he sue for this? Where the fuck does he expect me to get 3 million?

Answer:
 Wow, really? This is the definition of a frivolous lawsuit. Was your report truthful, not vindictive or fraudulent? If so, i can't imagine him having a case.Answer #2: A lawyer actually took this case? Wow.

Any competent lawyer should be able to get this dismissed quickly. Unless you somehow mislead the Medicaid investigators, you have nothing to worry about.Answer #3: 1.  Contact a lawyer.

2.  Contact the Medicaid fraud reporting branch.

3.  Florida's [anti-SLAPP statute](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.295.html) awards legal fees, so you should have no problem getting a good lawyer.


Title: Florida- person handling homeowners' association has not filed a report since 2005. Negligence? Fraud?

Question:
We live in a small gated community (5 houses) which we bought 2 years ago. We've paid about 100 a month in fees to my neighbor in charge of the homeowners association for 2 years. The walk in gate broke in September and it still hasn't gotten fixed, since then we've had petty robberies in my front yard and another the neighbor's car GPS was stolen twice.

In these two years we've owned the property the homeowners association (our neighbor) has never sent us financial statenents. But further inquiry after these thefts reveal the association stopped sending out financial statements to neighbors 10 years ago. In addition, it stopped filing the financial statements  with the state of Florida. This happened to be the year or negligent neighbor took over. This means the association has been nonexistent since 2005. The fees to reinstate the association and penalties for not filing with the government now amount to 2500.

Was just wondering if after 10 years of collecting money and not filing financial statements our neighbor has been acting in a false capacity and therefor fraudulently. Or is he negligent? Are the other neighbors negligent for letting this go on? We've only been here 2 years but should we have acted the first year?  Is he liable for the $2500

I don't expect an answer to everything but please anything would help!

Answer:
 I dont have it in front of me but Florida has a Dept somewhere for this

try here http://www.ccfj.net/  (caution:hokey ass background music you cant stop)Answer #2: Have *any* services been provided that are paid for by the HOA? Or has this guy just been pulling in an extra $4,800/yr for himself?

Florida Statute 720 should cover the HOA's responsibilities:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0720/0720.html

(specifically subsection 303)

Sounds like a call to a lawyer is likely in order.


Title: United States - Producing and Printing "Gag-Money."

Question:
I'm going to produce some gag-money for someone. They'll be:

* Less than 75% of the size of a dollar bill (Though may end up larger than 150%)

* Will be one sided

* Will *clearly* not be dollar bills (Seals removed, "Five Dollars" and "Federal Reserve Note" changed to something else, president changed to a different person)

Is there anything I'm missing?
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 As long as you tell your friends it's just souvenir money, you should be fine.

This is a joke, do not do this. Answer #2: As long as it's clearly distinguishable from negotiable currency, [and follows the guidelines on this page](http://www.treasury.gov/services/Pages/Regulations-for-Reproducing-US-Currency-Images.aspx) for any currency images you use, you'll be fine. Answer #3: If your worried change the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in the top right to something silly. Hell use your dog's photo in place of a presidents face.


Title: Does the woman who is suing United Airlines for $5million because her Direct TV didn't work have a case?

Answer:
 Jeez. The people around here clearly weren't top of their class.

The $5 Million dollar damages sought is a procedural mechanism. In order for her class action to be brought in federal court under 28 USC 1332(d), it needs a $5 Million dollar minimum amount in controversy. As long as she could plausibly allege this much in damages _across the entire class_ (and possibly subject to double or treble damages or something under some consumer protection law or something), then she can argue that her case should be allowed in Federal Court. God knows why she wants to bring it in NJ District court, but that is apparently why she is alleging $5 Million damages - not because she actually hopes to recover that much for the class or because that is her best estimate of the amount of the class's injury, but because that's her ticket into the federal court.

28 U.S. Code § 1332(d)(2)
>The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action in which the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $5,000,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and is a class action in which—
(A) any member of a class of plaintiffs is a citizen of a State different from any defendant;
(B) any member of a class of plaintiffs is a foreign state or a citizen or subject of a foreign state and any defendant is a citizen of a State; or
(C) any member of a class of plaintiffs is a citizen of a State and any defendant is a foreign state or a citizen or subject of a foreign state.


Title: Would it be a crime to obtain the death certificate of a person and bring it to the courthouse to have their name taken off of a deed to a house that has 2 other people's name on it for the purpose of cutting out the person the deceased person willed their share to?

Question:
If so what would the charge be?
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 Yes, it's illegal to try to remove someone from a home they have ownership of, without their consent.

The ownership of the house didn't disappear when the person died.  It passed to their heirs.


Title: [custody] [California] Godson's mother passed away unexpectedly. My wife and I want custody.

Question:
I posted this yesterday evening but now there's more info.

My wife and I have been friends with the mother for a long time now. At one point, she verbally said that she would want her son, who's my godson, to live with my wife and I, but she did not put anything in writing. She did not have a will. We were very close to his mother, and she and her son were sort of part of our family unit.

His grandmother came down to put things in order and organize the funeral while my godson stayed with us for three days. He said that he didn't want to move to his grandmother's, because it would mean leaving me, my wife, our kids (who adore him), my niece/nephews who are around his age, my wife's parents, etc. He very clearly stated that he wants to stay with us and didn't understand why he couldn't. I don't think his mom directly said "if anything ever happens to me, you will be going to live with them," but I think it's an assumption he made based on family dynamics. My wife and I tried to get him excited about grandma's, but he was very quiet/emotionally shutdown the morning he left. He just lost his mom and now he has to leave everything else too.

I briefly discussed with the grandmother the possibility of him spending extended amounts of time here or maintaining regular contact, but she immediately framed it as a "spending a week with us every summer" type thing. I clarified and she basically reiterated the same thing.

She is older, and I've watched her interact with him. I'm sure she loves him, but she hasn't had the easiest life and she's not as warm and loving and demonstrative as some people are. To be frank, our extended family tends to be a little bit over demonstrative and his mom was one of those people who's very outwardly focused and expressive. It will be a hard adjustment and I don't think he's going to understand why he's not getting as much positive feedback. I tried to tactfully tell his grandmother that he had been very touchy/insecure lately so to make sure she was showing lots of affection, but she kind of seemed a bit offended that I would think she needed to be told something like that.

My kids are completely devastated, and my oldest daughter particularly feels like he's been taken away. I haven't heard from him or his grandmother since this morning (they drove to SoCal but would have arrived about 3-4 hours ago), and I don't want to be overbearing and call.

It feels like my kid has been taken away.

Originally my wife (though she loves my godson) thought that we should let things be. But now she (like me) wants to get at least partial custody.

Answer: If you want to obtain custody of the child you need to hire a family law attorney to file a case in family court for custody unless you think you can navigate the family court system on your own.


Title: Feeding pigeons on apartment's balcony

Question:
I live in NJ and I just received a summons in the mail to appear in the Municipal Court of my town. I am accused of violating a provision by virtue of feeding some pigeons on my balcony.

The provision in question says: "All feeding of animals outdoors shall be prohibited with the following exceptions: birds may be fed in verminpool containers."

My question is this: is this a legitimate complaint? The provision they say I violated specifically allows (feeding birds) what they say caused the violation.

I don't have vermin proof containers but no animals can reach my balcony (which is on a high-rise) other than birds. There are no trees or power lines close by.

Finally, is my private apartment's balcony even considered 'outdoors'? It is a normal balcony with railing; even when it rains, it barely gets wet.

Answer: You are violating the law and probably annoying your neighbors. Yes, your balcony is outdoors. If you want, let the pigeons into your home and feed them there, but then you'll probably understand why your neighbors are so annoyed.


Title: [RI]Stupidly provoked some cops (I know...), and wondering the extent of what can happen to me legally.

Question:
So I'll just come right out and say it. I acted like a huge asshole and I'll probably deserved what's coming to me...but I'd still be prepared for what that might be, if I can.  There's a tl;dr at the bottom.

So what happened was, I was hanging out on this sort of secluded beach, where I like to drink and smoke weed and am generally undisturbed while doing so. Every once in a blue moon cops do patrol the area though and I'm usually right on top of it, and stash all my stuff by the time they walk by and they don't give me any trouble.

This time though, I was really zoned out, had a lot on my mind and didn't notice them until I was well in their field of view. I happened to be lighting up at that exact moment, and I stashed everything in a hurry but it was too late. They started jogging towards me and said "Hey don't move, we want to talk to you." At this point I was heavily intoxicated and made a big mistake. I made a run for it.

I never looked behind me but I could hear the cops shouting, things like "You're just making this worse", "If you stop now it'll go easier". Things like that. Well they didn't catch up to me and I eventually came up to this sort of rocky outcropping which I scaled quickly (I've done it before). At this point I looked behind me and they were standing at the bottom of it and weren't trying to climb.

Now I REALLY fucked up here. There's no excuse for what I did but...For context, I've been outraged by the recent murders of black men at the hands of law enforcement and I was also really high and feeling like I got away. So I yelled to them something like "Yeah if you'd spend more time on the treadmill and less time killing black dudes you would have caught me". Then one of them yells back "Son, if we'd have caught you it would have been just a ticket, but now we're going to get a bunch of guys looking for you and we will find you." So that scared the shit out of me and I ran home.

This happened two days ago and now I'm worried that there are a bunch of cops out looking for me. What will happen to me if they find me? Should I turn myself in? What charges could I be facing? I know I don't deserve any help with this but I appreciate it none the less. Thanks.

**tl;dr Cops spotted me smoking and drinking in public, I fled from them and the taunted them. They told me they'd be looking for me. What now?**
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer:
 Cops have uncanny persistence of memory.  You know that secluded beach you love so much? You probably should never go back there again.Answer #2: Possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia, public intox, failure to identify, breach of peace.

I'd count your damn blessings, and worry about it if you get arrested.

And make better life decisions.Answer #3: If they find you and identify you, there is going to be a bunch of charges coming your way for the crimes you were committing.  They don't have to arrest you at the time of the offense.

You've made yourself a target for future enforcement action if you get identified.  Cops can be just as petty as anyone else.  You just painted a huge target on your back.

Every time you're a victim of crime you're going to have to gamble on calling the cops.

You should probably never go back to the beach.

Answer #4: ...

word of advice, don't provoke people with guns.


Title: What should my brother expect settlement ballpark wise for?

Question:
My brother was in a gas station convenience store and slipped on some liquid, fell, and hit his head on a counter. He went into the fencing response and was rushed to the hospital where he was an 8 on the coma scale mostly unresponsive. He had surgery to relieve pressure on his brain and was in the hospital for a couple weeks for recovery and rehab. He was diagnosed with a moderate to severe Traumatic Brain Injury. He's got some cognitive, social, mental, physical etc problems as well. His medical bills were almost 100k iirc.

He plans on getting a lawyer and going after the station. I'm trying to get him a ballpark on a settlement. Thank you.

Answer: There's no way for anyone here to give you a ballpark number.  The gas station may not even be liable for his injuriesAnswer #2: Impossible to say. If the gas station is found not liable, it could be $0.


Title: Legality of this 2 week notice part in my employee handbook [SC, USA]

Question:
My boss has created an uncomfortable work environment and has verbally harassed me recently. Things have calmed down but since that happened I’ve been lookin for another job. I may have a new job lined up and I don’t plan on giving her the courtesy of a two week notice because of the hostile work environment she’s created for me and several other employees.

In the employee handbook that I signed during my hiring process. There’s a part that says “Any employee that quits without a two week notice will be laid at minimum wage for the remainder of that pay period”

My question is what exactly does that mean? And is it legal?
Topic:
Labor Law (Unions)

Answer:
 Generally, it's legal for your employer to reduce your future wages - they can pay you minimum wage for the hours you have not yet worked, but they *cannot* reduce your pay retroactively for any hours you have already worked.

So if you give notice today that you are quitting on Friday, they can pay you minimum wage for Thurs/Fri, but they must pay you your current wage for Wednesday and before.


Title: (TX) Got stopped at border patrol

Question:
Long time lurker here, need some good advice!

My gf and I spent the weekend at south Padre Island and as we were driving back we got stopped by a random border patrol station that's nowhere near a border on traveling north on highway 77. I'm an US citizen but my gf is a F1 visa student and she did not have her visa with her. The border patrol asked about her visa and said she could be deported if she did not have it on her at all times. He let us go with a warning this time because of the high traffic but told us we need to carry it at all times in the future.

My question is: does she really have to carry her visa with her at all times? And if we were actually detained because not having her visa on hand what should we do?

Thanks for all your help!

Answer:
 An alien, 18 years or older, visiting the United States is required by US law to carry, at all times, any “alien registration document” issued to that alien by US immigration officials. 8 U.S. Code § 1304 - Forms for registration and fingerprinting subsection e

She should be carrying her I-20 when traveling, even within the US especially if around southern or northern states close to the border(s).


Title: Just divorced. Wife got house, but is now foregoing payments. Worried about my credit. Illinois

Question:
Can i do anything to shield myself or save my credit if she defaults. Im no longer liable for the debt via the Divorce but my name is still on the mortgage. The divorce gave her 60 days to refi.

Thanks

Answer:
 That's a lawyer question right there.  You're already lost on me when you say you're no longer liable for the debt but you're still on the mortgage.  How does that happen...

It seems like you should be able to contact the handling bank and say you're not on the mortgage anymore by mandate of law.


Title: Wrongful dismissal - Construction site - Canada, BC

Question:
I'm an apprentice electrician with a company based out of Alberta, working in the area of Kelowna BC. I raised some Health and safety concerns on site regarding spray foam insulation and working in proximity to it. Other employees also made inquiries on site for this and other reasons on this particular site. After getting very little information from my boss, the people doing the spray foaming, and the general contractor on site I called worksafe.bc to find out how close I was able to work to the areas being spray foamed.

Worksafe asked me if I knew what type of spray foam it was, I said no and that the foamer's hadn't given me any information when asked. He asked me to get the MSDS/SDS for it and that it might say on there.

The MSDS which I still have, says that the area must be ventilated or Oxygen delivered respirators must be used. Niether of these were options at site, or provided. I continued working ( in the effected area ) until 2:45pm which about 30 mins to the end of the day when I was approached by the general contractor of the site along with 1 of the 2 safety officers on site.

He told me I was being kicked off site for raising the health and safety concern. I mentioned to him that I had pictures proving said safety concerns were valid * something I don't have to do, and probably shouldn't have mentioned in the heat of things* He escorted me to the entrance of the building where my boss caught up with and *seemed frazzled about the situation and was going to call me later that night to try and work things out, no call came. I called worksafe.BC when I got home explained what had happened, and they setup an officer to call me when they had an opening.

This all happened in the last 24 hours, I have no information on if they think I quit, if I was fired or  written reasons. I have been looking into legal advice for when the morning arrives and I can start calling people. If anyone has any information on how I can report them for poor work practices, or get someone to warn the other people on site that the whole building should be ventilated or that they should have respirators on that would be great!

EDIT : Thanks for all the help guys, I feel like I have some ground to stand on now!

Answer: Contact a lawyer, that is not going to fly. They can't fire you for refusing to work in unsafe conditions, or for raising the question.Answer #2: Sounds like you were kicked off the job site by the general contractor, and not your employer. If your employer doesn't fire you, then there's no claim for wrongful dismissal (he should assign you to another job site). That said, Worksafe BC will definitely want to hear from you and the fact you were kicked off a job site for bringing up unsafe work conditions, and will probably heavily fine the general contractor for retaliation.Answer #3: That's retaliation for exercising your workplace rights..... that employer is screwed


Title: Getting married in a few weeks, but I also want to change my last name to something that isn't my Fiancé last name. Which should I do first?(WA state)

Question: My last name is currently my father's last name. My mother died when I was 2, but I want to legally change my name name to her maiden name, simply because  I like her last name a lot. I've got nothing against my dad, and he understands my wanting to do it. My fiance and I are getting married in a few weeks, and we're going to get our marriage license soon, but I don't plan on taking his last name. Should I do the name change first, so I can then legally sign the marriage certificate with my new(changed) name? Or get married first, and then go through the name change process?

Answer:
 I would do it before.

But the steps are going to be the same either way.


Title: Cancelling Wedding Venue - Getting Back Deposit?

Question:
Hi - my fiance and I have decided to postpone our wedding. This obviously sucks. In the midst of this, we want to know if we have any options re: getting back the 16k deposit we've given the venue. The wedding is a month away, and the contract reads:

"If the Event is cancelled more than eight months prior to the Event Date, a $500 administration fee will be retained and the remainder of the deposits returned within 30 days of cancellation. If the Event is cancelled less than eight months prior to the Event, all advance payments will be retained."

What's the best way to proceed here? Am I basically out of luck? Thanks.

Answer:
 According to your contract... No.Answer #2: You breached the contract, through no fault of the vendor.  Because you cancelled so late, it is very highly unlikely that they can book the space on such short notice. This is why they have non-refundable clauses. Your cancellation (and refund) would cost them a large sum for which they couldn't recoup. Even if you tried to sue them claiming that the contract was unconscionable, or against public policy, or something similar, you have the burden of proving same.  You might have more leverage if you tried to get a refund or partial refund with months to spare (giving them more time to book a new event), but one month before? I wouldn't think so.

EDIT:  you didn't list a location. So unless your jurisdiction has some very strange contract laws, contrary to common law on contracts, my response above is generally accurate.


Title: I got thrown down stairs buy club security and now have a cracked hip.

Question:
Not sure what to do?
Can i sue? Get him charged?
Ill need something done because he can't get away with this.
Im still in hospital now.

Answer: What transpired before? Did security just decide to single you out and throw you down the stairs?


Title: My Landlord Passed Away, Now What?? - Alabama

Question:
Hey guys!
I moved into a house that was rented out to me by the sweetest widowed elderly lady about 6 months ago.  Well, she died suddenly 2 weeks ago.  She was in good health so it was kind of shocking.

When I moved in there was no formal agreement, just a receipt for the deposit, etc.  Ive always paid on time and even brought her treats from time to time.

Well as I understood it, her nephew was supposedly going to inherit her houses that she rents out, she has a couple.  But there's a rumor that her stepsons (that none of us knew she even had) were maybe going to try to contest her will. We haven't been contacted by anyone yet and don't really know what to do! I don't want to just hand over money to someone I don't know.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated!!

Answer:
 You keep paying rent until the house is handled in probate court.  Where money is on the line it's likely someone will contact you.  Make your checks out to her until credibly told to do otherwise by a probate attorney or someone who can demonstrate their status to you.

Don't be one those people who shows up here in a few months saying you didn't have anyone to pay so you spent the money and now they want it.  Your rent won't be free in this process.  Ever.

And be prepared to be moving one full rental period after the house is transferred in probate.  It may not go that way but it usually does.


Title: [New York] I think my right to vote is being suppressed and I want to know what to do about it.

Question:
throwaway because I know I'll get some nasty PMs of people calling me "snowflake" or something, so save it.

So, backstory. I'm a transgender man (i.e. female to male) and changed my legal name and the gender marker on my state-issued ID in early spring of this year. Anyone who has changed their name knows that this involves mountains of paperwork to a variety of different governmental organizations: you don't just snap your fingers and it's changed everywhere; you have to send forms to each individual agency to update your info, and if you're changing your gender marker too, you also have to send in letters from social workers and doctors. But anyway, one of many things I had to change was my voter registration. I'm *under the impression* (correct me if I'm wrong) that I legally can't vote unless the name my registration matches my legal name, though we are not required to present ID at the polls themselves.

so anyway, I first filled out the re-registration forms that I had found online and sent them off in... I want to say March, I can't quite remember. It was early enough that I would have been able to vote in a special election the state was having later in the spring even with New York's very early deadline, but not much earlier than that. The only problem is, days before that special election and after the deadline to re-register was long over, I received a letter in the mail, starting with "DEAR MR. GARRETT LASTNAME" (my legal name and the one I had filled in on the form) saying my registration didn't go through because, supposedly, I hadn't signed the affidavit. I find this highly suspect - the affidavit is *the whole point of the form.* How could I have not signed it without noticing that the line at the bottom was blank? But they didn't send me back the supposedly mis-written form, so I didn't know. I couldn't tell if it was their incompetence or mine. I hadn't photographed it or made copies, so it's conceivable that maybe I had a massive brain fart and just didn't sign it. I wouldn't put it past myself to do that. But that's not the main part of this story.

When they sent me my rejection letter, they also sent me a card to re-re-register. I put it aside for a while, mostly because I was angry. I'll get back to that. I ended up *not* going to the polls for the special election in spring, because the voter rolls still had my old name on them. That is not legally my name. I didn't want to commit voter fraud or get my ballot stricken or something because of that. The candidate I had intended on voting for won without my help, and I live in a pretty liberal district that wasn't hotly contested anyway, but it still pissed me off. So, I put off bothering to re-register in time for the primaries (which are on September 13th, in less than a week) until late July. Again, plenty of time for them to process it, not too close to the deadline by a long shot, but not months and months in advance.

I should note here that my name - my legal name, the one I picked when I changed my name, the one that's now on my driver's lisence and also my social security card - is Garrett. I should also note that when you register to vote in my state, though we have no voter ID laws, you must provide either your lisence ID number or your social security number (I opted to use lisence ID because I don't like putting my SSN together with my full name and address and contact info through the mail unless it's unavoidable). So I filled that in to the registration card they had sent me - Garrett Lastname, all my info including my changed gender mark, my lisence ID, and my signature. Then I photographed it and sent it.

And after I sent it off, I figured I was all good. When I received a little card in the mail saying that I was successfully registered to vote, I was relieved. I left that on my coffee table.

Then, about a week later, I noticed that it was misspelled. Yup, they had my name down as "GARIELL." Not only is that a female-sounding name - incongruous with the change in gender marker - but it's *not the one that my state-issued ID has on it,* meaning they either didn't bother to cross-check at all (why even ask for it if you're not checking it?) or they intentionally misspelled it. Or they did so out of gross incompetence. I don't really know which is worse, and I don't care. That shouldn't happen.

TL;DR for the above: After I legally changed my name and gender marker, the board of elections fucked up my re-registration at least once, possibly twice, and my name is misspelled as a weird female variant of my actual name on the voter rolls, and it's only a little over a week from my party's primary, and now it's too late to re-re-register in time for that election.

So what now?

I have heard many stories suggesting that election officials across the country have been scrutinizing various demographics/minorities especially closely and voiding any ballot or registration that has any flaw. I have a growing suspicion that this is what is happening to me, partly because I have a family member in politics who works with the GOP on various state-level campaigns and he mentioned to me over drinks that the voter registration process is essentially a joke and isn't closely monitored at all, and that striking names off the rolls is now part of the political process. I have an (unprovable) theory someone saw that I changed my gender marker in my re-registration and then decided to "misread my handwriting" even though I write clearly, and even though they should have been cross-checking my name against the ID number I provided.

My current plan of action is to play everything totally above board. I'm going to go to the primaries and attempt to vote, but I'll *let pollsters know* that my name is spelled wrong on the voter rolls and ask if I'm still allowed to vote. If they let me vote anyway? No problem. If not, which is likely since afaik you have to vote under your actual name? Maybe I'll be given a provisional ballot, maybe they'll just turn me away.

But if they turn me away, I want to raise hell. Honestly, if it's true that they're maliciously suppressing my vote, I'd rather be turned away if it gives me another piece of evidence to bring to the state AG's office or to the ACLU or to whoever I need to bring that complaint to get something done about this. I want to vote, but I want to root out corruption in our electoral system more. I want other people like me to be able to vote without having to re-re-re-register three separate times before they finally get it right.

that just leaves my questions: who do I complain to if they turn me away (or deny a provisional ballot, in the event that it actually gets opened in the first place)? Election commissioner? State AG? ACLU? Lambda Legal? Every representative whose address I can get ahold of? Am I likely to accomplish anything by sending complaints, or is it a waste of my time? How do I go about seeking legal counsel should it become necessary given that I'm currently living with my parents and don't have money to pay a lawyer? Would I have any kind of case at all, or nah? I'm young and inexperienced and I just want to participate in my democracy. If I'm denied my constitutional right to vote because of the board of elections' fuck-up, I want them to face consequences.

Answer:
 Honestly, it sounds like you are taking bureaucratic screw-ups way too personally.  Don't presume malice when incompetence is a far more logical explanation.

There is no incidence of NY or anywhere specifically trying to suppress the votes of trans or other LGBT people.  Voter suppression is almost exclusively racial/ethnic.

Physically take your documents down to the registrar of voters or whomever handles this, and try to address whatever the problem is in person.