Title: [Canada] Someone cloned my website into an app & is using my business name

Question:
My business started in 2014, "theirs" in 2016, yet they claim to be the originator of the concept (it's a 100% unique idea that no one else is doing, but myself and that guy).

He's even using the same name, except added an "i" to the front, like "iPhone".

His organization has raised $300,000 this year, at a $1.5 million value and I don't know what to do. Any advice is much appreciated!

Answer:
 You can consult with an attorney. Answer #2: Is this the UberEats clone you were trying to get a dev to build for you?

Edit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/web_work/comments/9yi0zr/for_hire_we_want_a_clone_of_ubereats_homepage/

https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/9yfecz/seeking_pro_web_dev_to_create_ubereats_clone/Answer #3: IANAL

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But I would highly suggest you meet with one and discuss your options.

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In the mean time, please remember to gather as much information and records together as you can. If you've contacted this person at all, make sure you have those records. If you've registered your business at any local office, get any records you might have for that.

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You may not need all of it, but in the long run you'll be happy you did it.


Title: Ex has defaulted on car payments. I cosigned for him and have a notarized letter saying if this happened I would take over. What is my legal recourse?

Question: This is in Texas. As the title of my post explains, my ex has defaulted on his car loan. The banks won't stop calling me, he has $1000 that are past due, a 9k balance, and my credit score has started dropping...rapidly. When we separated we came to an agreement that if he couldn't continue with the payments that I would take over, keep the car, and that he would not be reimbursed for anything he has already paid towards the balance. I tried to be an adult about it. I had to go look for him at his job because he kept screening my calls. I spoke to him calmly and thought we had come to an agreement, but no dice. I have three questions, if I froze my credit while I sort this out would that help? What is my legal recourse? Would this notarized letter I have hold up in court? Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer:
 You are legally obligated to pay the loan, as you are likely aware.  I would suggest resuming payments on it immediately to stop your credit from further damage (freezing your credit wont help).  The credit issue is between you and the bank, in which you have no recourse.  You agreed to pay if this happened, so now you can either pay immediately OR suffer the consequences and pay later.

Everything else is between you and your ex, which you can sort out in small claims court.  It is possible the court would order him to either turn over the car to you.

But, again, I recommend solving things with your ex AFTER you have resumed payments on the loan to stop the damage to yourself.  Answer #2: Freezing your credit wouldn't do anything in this scenario. It prevents new loans/credit not existing ones.

You can sue him civilly for the value of the loan or the car or whatever. Bring any agreement documentation with you. If the value is below small claims limit you can do it yourself.


Title: [alabama] divorce advice for a female.

Question: Is a wife considered property and have no right to property in Alabama? That's what I've been told.

Answer: No. That is not true at all, and I am sorry that there are people in your life who believe that.Answer #2: Assuming this isn't a troll, absolutely not. Not legal advice, but good gracious, you shouldn't ever speak to those people again.


Title: Urgent Care center is charging me $2,469.28 for treating a minor cut and a tetanus shot. Need advice on what to do next, please

Question:
In late February my 17 yrs. old son had a small cut on his wrist with a sharp metal while cleaning a soda dispenser at work (He works flex hours at a cinema). I took him to an urgent care facility near our house right after he left his work for the day basically to get a tetanus shot; the wound didn't even need stiches. We have BCBS TX but Urgent care facility is out of network (I know).
I just received in the mail two invoices one for $476 and the other for $1,993.28. A total of $2,469.28!!!

Insurance or not this is plain robbery in my mind (sorry, I’m outraged).  I haven’t done anything yet as I’m still hyperventilating. Any feedback on what to do next would be greatly appreciated.  Also, I hope that I'm not breaking any rules of this subreddit with this post. Thanks in advance.

Edit: I live in Houston, TX metropolitan area
Topic:
Healthcare Law including HIPAA

Answer: Have you contacted workers comp?Answer #2: If your son was injured at work, he should have advised his supervisor who, ideally, would have told him what provider to go to. This should have been covered under workers' compensation. However, since you took him to get treated on your own, without going to an approved WC provider (approved by the employer), you are likely stuck with the bill. As others have indicated, make a claim through your insurance, ask for an itemized bill, and whatever your insurance doesn't pay, try to negotiate it down.


Title: Do I have a right to ultrasound pictures?

Question: In the US. My baby most likely has pffd.  Basically her right leg is shorter than her left. If it is pffd, we will probably amputate around 12mos or so. We’re content with this. I would like pictures of the ultrasound to explain to my baby what made us come to that decision & to explain more about my pregnancy IF she (or any other future kids) experience something similar in the future. The doctors have only given me pictures of her profile (head) & of her genitals. I would like a full body picture. I know they’ve taken them. What might be the reason behind them not giving them to me?

Answer:
 Have you requested them, or gotten a copy of your medical records and seen if they're in there?

Or are you just expecting your Dr. to be psychic?


Title: Water rights question - South Carolina

Question: We live in South Carolina on a pond shared by 4 other property owners. Our property line runs under the pond and to the land on all sides (we basically have a little inlet to ourselves). A registered sex offender has just moved in on the other side of the pond and he likes to bring his pontoon and sit in our part of the pond and watch my brothers and sisters in law play  (there's 5 of them between the ages of 1 and 18). He has also taken to allowing random strangers (who pull off the road and ask if they can fish) to fish the pond and THEY sit in the same spot. Water laws are so confusing. Do we have to let these people go wherever and do whatever because it's a shared pond or can we tell them to stay out of the part of the pond we own?

Answer: IANAL, but if he’s within your known property lines, you’re fully within your rights to tell him or anyone else to exit your part of the pond, that’s considered trespassing unless it’s an easement, so I would check up on how your property was surveyed. Also I would check up on the registry as to what level of crimes he committed that he had to register for as he may carry certain restrictions on who he’s allowed to be near and under what circumstances. If you at all feel uncomfortable for the sake of your siblings in law, it doesn’t hurt to make a call to your local LE to make a complaint as well, especially if you want documentation early on in case anything escalates.


Title: Police contacted my father about a complaint about me

Question: I'm 21, living in canada and my father is out of the country, but he got a call from someone who said hes a police officer saying they "have something to discuss about his oldest son". When my father told me I asked for their number so I can call them and find out for myself what's up, but my father told me that the cop was calling from home and wouldn't be in until tomorrow, which is when my father comes back into the country. He also told me that the complaint was about something in the last 3 weeks, and I have been stuck in my office for the last 3 weeks meaning I know i coulnd't have done anything for anyone to complain about, but I'm more curious, are the cops allowed to do this? And should their be anything I should tell my dad to be aware of when they call him back?

Answer:
 Police won't do that.  If they need to speak to you, they'll come and find you and ask to speak to you.  They won't bother going through your parents.

This is likely a scam of some sort.  Let your father know to disregard it, and more importantly, not to give these people any information.Answer #2: Smells like some kind of scam, to me.  If the cops want you, they *will* find you.Answer #3: Tell him that if the police contact him again to inform the police that you are a grown-ass man and they can speak to you directly about whatever complaint you are involved in, and he has no interest in providing them with any information.


Title: Houston,TX - Mother was rear ended by a USPS mail delivery truck, what are her options?

Question:
My mom was rear ended at a red light by a USPS mail delivery truck.  Thankfully there were no injuries, her truck was relatively undamaged.  She called the Harris County Sheriff's Dept to report the accident, and they sent a deputy out to take care of it.  According to my mother, he informed her that reporting this on her insurance would cause her to lose a point on her license, and that it wasn't really worth it.  He also apparently did not ticket the USPS driver for anything, and just sent everyone on their way.  No accident report was filled out either, supposedly.  My mom took pictures of the damage, of the USPS driver's DL, and the vehicle number of the delivery truck.  She went to the Post Office that the driver is from, and was told by the manager that they were immune from lawsuits due to Federal Tort laws.  She said he asked her to write a statement on a plain piece of paper, and she requested a copy of it from him, which he provided.

After doing 5 minutes of Googling, I have come to some conclusions that I'm unsure of, and would like your advice in helping my mom sort this out.

1. Why was the driver not ticketed for at least failure to maintain speed or whatever?  Seems to me, that should be a thing.   I assume that a ticket would establish fault, as she rear ended my mom at a red light.  Doesn't sound like the deputy did his job....

2.  Not obtaining an accident report was a mistake in that there is no official report of the incident.

3.  What steps should my mother take to get this sorted?  I read about a claims form she can fill out from the Post Office, which I've instructed her to do, but beyond that should she contact her car insurance provider or an attorney first?

4. I don't believe any sort of personal injury suit will come of this, because she hasn't gone to a doctor or anything because her insurance deductibles are horrible.  She insists she's sore but not in pain, for whatever that's worth.

I apologize if this post seems jumbled, this situation just doesn't seem right.  I'm just confused as to why the driver wasn't ticketed by the deputy, and why he would tell my mother that reporting this to her insurance would cause her to get docked points on her driver's license..

Answer:
 of course your mother should contact her insurance company, and she shouldn't be taking insurance advice from a sheriff. make sure she saves those pictures. Answer #2: The post office still falls under the class of agencies which have sovereign immunity; so in order to recover you have to follow the procedures in the Federal Tort Claims Act; and exhaust all of your administrative remedies prior to suing.

It all starts with Form 95; and you can't even think about suing until she files it and gets a decision back. Their decision is typically to pay for the damages. If you're interested in falling asleep tonight, you can take a look at the procedures USPS uses to process the claim here [http://www.apwu.org/sites/apwu/files/resource-files/PO-702%20Tort%20Claims%20Administration%2012-08%20(6.99%20MB).pdf], including what they do and don't cover.


Title: [California] Ex spouse has racked up $4k in debt on a joint credit card I thought to be long since canceled. What are my options?

Question:
My dissolution of marriage with my ex-spouse was finalized in August of 2015. After the fact, I went into my bank (US Bank) to have a joint credit card we opened together closed and replaced with a new credit card of the exact same type in only my name. All was well until earlier this month, I found out that my ex had racked up $4k of credit card debt in two days on this line that I was told was closed. Of course, I called the bank and had them closed it for good this time (hopefully) upon learning this.

Upon contacting my ex about it via text message, he claimed that this was an accident (saying he thought the account was closed as well and that the card was only his own) and that he would fix it so the charges would not affect my credit.

Well, the first bill is due tomorrow. After a whole month of pulling teeth to get updates, being ignored, and being given the run around, he is now claiming that he has nowhere to transfer the balance to, so tough luck essentially. He made the bare minimum payment today after asking him to post something before the bill is due. He paid $37 of the $4k on an 18% APR credit card, which doesn't even cover the interest that will be charged.

I really don't want to shell over my hard earned cash to cover his frivolous spending, but I also don't want to ruin my credit over this. I have no written confirmation from the bank that the card was to be closed originally, as I was going off of a bank teller's word. I also do not believe that an agreement to discontinue use of this card was included in our dissolution. It was a very DIY situation as we were both very young at the time. All I have are text messages between me and my ex about the situation. Do I have any options left, or am I SOL here?

I would really appreciate any guidance you guys have to offer. Thank you in advance!
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 If you had a divorce attorney write up the separation go back to them and discuss it, or any other attorney for that matter.

You may need to pay off the balance and sue your ex for the money.Answer #2: I had this happen, but it took over ten years after our divorce to find out.  My ex kept one of the credit cards active and filed bankruptcy.  Discover took him off the account and began calling me to ask for payment.  While keeping the thing open was a real dick move, my ex continued to make the payments on the account for several months.  I finally sent a request in writing to Discover to prove that I was actually a party to the account (ex had forged my name on applications a couple times when we were married).  They did their investigation and were not able to find the original application, so discharged the 16K debt.

I hope you can have a similarly positive outcome.Answer #3: What proof, if any, do you have that the line of credit was actually closed?

Either way, you need to consult with your divorce attorney and look into dragging your ex back to court.Answer #4: Legally if you were completely divorced when he racked up the bills he most likely owes the amount. The problem is that legally you and/or him owe the bank. There is no getting out of this. Your only options are to 1. Pay the bills. 2. Pay the bills and sue him for repayment. 3. Dont pay the bills and have your and his credits marked with a delinquent account.


Title: Sheriff order my dog to be out down

Question:
My dog was at my parents house and in their yard inside a fence. I live in an apartment and the dog is too big. The dog is a pit bull mix and she was a rescue, she was very shy and only reacted to other dogs and women because she was abused, she really didn't like men...not even me, but I still loved her.

Well my neighbor was in our yard but outside of the fence but still on our property, which is private property I might add. And we have private property and beware of dog signs.

Her side of the story goes like this; My neighbor was outside of our fence and our dog was sticking her head out of the fence barking at her and she said the dog tried to bite her. She called the cops saying she was fearing for her life and the sheriff came out to our house, the sheriff sided with the neighbor and said our dogs breed was vicious and ordered our dog to be put down, even when she was not bit or attacked in anyway.

I'm in a flurry because I have no idea what to do. Any advice?

Edit: location, East Texas, Kaufman county. This is not where I live but where it happened

Answer: Hire a lawyer, STAT.


Title: My apartment complex is charging me for something that a cookie delivery guy stole. WHAT!?

Question:
My apartment supposedly has footage of me from the other day, where I took a trip down to the lobby (true) picked up my cookies from the delivery guy (also true) and told him I had no tip so he could just take that nice potted plant sitting right there (false). I most certainly did not tell the delivery guy he could take a plant. I most certainly DID tip him (online, it was an online order), and I most certainly should NOT be charged $25 FUCKING DOLLARS because someone stole their shit. As an already broke college student, how do I approach this without getting evicted?

Update 1: Putting it here so everyone knows: apparently I "gestured" to the plant in the video. This is completely false because the plant that the guy took was behind me, and the guy was standing in front of me. I know that they are talking about when I gestured goodbye to him, but I did so in the direction of him (in front of me) not the plant (which was behind me). I'm hoping to see the video when I meet with them tonight.

FINAL UPDATE: I received a text from my roommate while at work before I had even met with the office workers for a second time, and he informed me that the apartment had admitted they were at fault and had stopped pursuing me. So that was good news. I still stopped into the office once I got back from work and spoke to them and they didn't even apologize which was pretty ridiculous but.... Regardless, I let them know again that I would be happy to try and get the other guy on whatever charges they wanted. If anyone has any advice from this point forward please let me hear it! I will definitely be sending a letter to corporate about how poorly this was orchestrated. Thank you all for your advice.

Answer:
 Does the footage contain audio?Answer #2: Even if the delivery guy stole it in front of you- your duty of care is relatively low...

What state or country?
Is this a locked entryway where you have to let visitors in?
At the time did you know he was taking the plant?
Have you refused to cooperate with police?


Title: Stalker ex boyfriend in Chicago

Question:
I dated an emotionally abusive guy on and off for about 10 months. After we broke up, he had threatened to kill me, came to my job (where my boss had him removed), had his new girlfriend come to my job, and would not take not accept the fact that I would not speak to him. I blocked him on all forms of social media, and his phone number. He started using google phone to contact me from blocked and unrecognizable numbers and because I work a specific line of work (I work with companies from the UK)  my number is very difficult to change and I sometimes need to pick up unrecognizable numbers.

Because he could not get ahold of me, he would often times show up at my house. When he did, I would threaten to call the police if he didn't leave, and he always did. This occurred on and off for about 6 months. I used to be a dancer, and he would often show up at venues I would perform at, and would have to be escorted out. I had to tell him I was moving across the country so that he would think I no longer planned on living in Chicago and would stop bothering me. The stalking stopped for about 2 months until he started contacting someone I had started dating with explicative and sexually information about our past.

My current boyfriend ignored these messages. Then about 2 months ago I received a vague text indicating something I had posted on social media, involving a friend of mine. When I responded, there was no answer, and when I called it would't connect me. However, on July 4th I received a text message just asking me "how i've been?" I responded thinking it was a friend trying to get ahold of me for the holidays and because I had gotten a new phone. He identified himself and I immediately blocked his number.

Obviously at this point, I am aware nothing can be done because I have no proof, but I am afraid for my life, and for the life of my friends that he has the capabilities of getting in contact with. What kind of information needs to be saved and provided to get police to listen to you, especially in Chicago where crime rate is high?

Answer: Have you tried calling your local police department? I would let them know the situation you're in and ask them what is needed to file a restraining order, especially with this having gone on for months. I would document every time he tries to contact you, and if he shows up at your residence or place of work, don't threaten to call the police. Just do it. But since a restraining order is unlikely, your best bet is to change your phone number, even if it's a headache because of your job.


Title: [USA] Can I take my 17 year old siblings out of the country?

Question: Hey guys, so I am a 20 year old male and was wondering if I can take my 17 year old siblings to Mexico with me. They both have passports. My question is, is it legal for me to take them by myself without my parents being present? Since it required my parents to be with them when they got the passport, does that count as permission to travel abroad? What documents would I need to bring with me if that is not the case, or are there any that permit me to do this without my parents being there. The only things I have been able to find seem to be directed towards if an underage person was travelling with a school group or another adult that is not a legal guardian, doesnt ever mention siblings specifically and I was wondering if there is an exception for immediate family. Thanks for any help.

Answer: You are "another adult that is not a legal guardian"Answer #2: We took my daughter and three of her 15-16 year old friends to Mexico for a vacation. We brought notarized certifications in duplicate signed by their parents stating that the girl had permission to travel to a specific destination with my family on these dates and included some specific details such as parents name address and phone numbers, airline flights and the resort we were staying at. On departure (from NY) someone took a copy, don't recall if it was Customs or the airline, and on the return I don't think that US Customs even looked at the letters.


Title: So, I just came across a really shitty prank video, and I was wondering...

Question:
Well, "really shitty" is a bit of an exaggeration--the prank was cruel and mean, and could have gone wrong in many different ways--thankfully, no one was hurt. But, I digress.

TL;DR: Pranksters shoot paintballs at driver (bad). Driver panics, "fight" response is chosen. Driver runs over prankster, injuring the prankster (also bad). Who's liable?

The point is, I saw this "prank" video online, and it involved a bunch of guys attacking their buddy's car with paintball guns. Now, obviously, there are a million ways this prank can go wrong--the slight chance of actually damaging the car, the possibility of hitting (and injuring) a passenger in the eye, or causing a traffic accident, but there's one possibility that I'm curious about, legally (in the other cases, the prankers would get sued/arrested if anything went wrong, so it's not very interesting).

What would happen, legally, if the driver panicked, and in that panicked state, decided the best course of action would be to turn the car towards the pranksters, resulting in one of the pranksters getting run over?

Obviously, the driver had a fight-or-flight response and decided to respond to people shooting paintballs at him with potentially lethal force (which is probably an overreaction). However, the driver was also ambushed by a bunch of dudes wielding paintball guns (which is potentially dangerous and can definitely initiate a panic response in a reasonable person).

So, my question, what would happen legally if this is the way it went down? The pranksters make the driver panic, and the panicking driver runs over one of the pranksters. The prankster is injured, the driver is not, and everyone regrets their decisions. Would the driver be criminally liable? Would the driver be responsible for the prankster's medical costs? Or was the prankster liable for their own fate?

Answer:
 Hitting someone with a car is assault with a deadly weapon.

A person must be *reasonably* in fear for their life or the life of someone else before that is a viable legal option.

If you can't say "I panicked and shot them" and get away with it, this won't work either.


Title: How do I find my brother's COD without my mother knowing? Nevada

Question:
I am suspicious of what was told to me as a child when my baby brother died. I would like to know how to find out his cause of death without others finding out that I got this information.

How does Ancestry have these records behind a paywall? Is the only place for me to get it Nevada Vital Records? They seem to want a lot of information that I don't have (his social security number, etc).

Thanks for your help & advice.

Answer: You would need to apply for a copy of the death certificate, which does require date of birth, date of death, ssn, etc. That’s your option.


Title: Whats the worst that could happen if I record myself working security at clubs and make a youtube channel out of it?

Question:
I see a trend of fast-food workers filming themselves while working and then posting it online with voice overs telling fast-food stories. I think if I did that I could have lots of great content.

\*hypothetically speaking\*

I could start wearing a body camera tell my employers its for safety and keep the recordings. Would that then be illegal if I decide to upload it? I work at concerts and night clubs. I know it would have lots of great content and I could tell a lot of stories. I am worried about the legality of it as it would show tons of peoples faces, intoxicated people doing embarrassing things and my employers will be pissed once they find out but I would be most likely viral by the time they saw the videos. Alternatively I could try asking for permission to post it from my employers which I would imagine not a single one would accept. Is it worth all that potential sweet youtube money? How bad could it get?

Answer:
 It goes viral. You are now a liability to your employers so you are fired. Now you are unemployable in the security field so no more videos so no income. What are you going to do to make money?

Fast food employees have less to lose but they are likely to still lose. Chains have money and lawyers. I suspect this fad won't last long.


Title: (WA) 13yo daughter molested by classmate on bus

Question: Our daughter admitted to us after we discovered some disturbing text messages on her phone that she had been molested by a boy on her school bus several times over the course of a week a few months ago. She described him sitting next to her with a blanket with forced kissing, biting, above and below underwear/bra gropeing and fingering. She made it clear to us she did not consent and expressed multiple times she wanted him to stop. We are still reeling but we did manage to write down as many details as she could remember. My question is what to do next? I assume we should talk to the police and make a report but my first thoughts are what we can do for her. We are new to the Washington state area so I don't know what resources are available to her. Should I be speaking to a legal counsel? Our initial thoughts are to press charges but I'm just not sure.

Answer:
 This is sexual assault and a police matter.Answer #2: Call the police.

You don't need any sort of legal counsel.

For her, check out RAINN.org  It will have great resources to help your family process the abuse she suffered. Answer #3: 1.) You can either contact police or Child Protective Services. Both can/will investigate (in fact, both are likely to be involved in some way). Both can offer funding and referrals for therapy.

2.) Since the district is involved, report to the school and ask if they have cameras on the bus, and get that camera footage saved ASAP.Answer #4: Contact the police ASAP.Answer #5: Contact rainn.org  for assistance for her, and then call the police (when she is able).

I am so sorry.Answer #6: In addition to what others have said about calling the police, which is good advice, I'd like to add this:

If it happens again, god forbid, tell her to scream bloody murder. The bus driver is an adult, and should handle it. Likewise, screaming for help will make sure everybody looks in that direction, so there'll be plenty of witnesses.

Tell her it's not her fault, and there is no shame. She is the victim, and people will assist her if she makes her plight clear.Answer #7: Police. Enough said.Answer #8: Call the police, they will in turn be able to direct you towards resources for your daughter. It is good that your daughter wrote down what she could remember of the incident.

Getting the police involved will help make the school environment better for everyone as it will likely result in disciplinary action for a person who committed the assault and the known associates of the assaulter.


Title: My younger brother was adopted about 10 years ago. Can I get visits?

Question: My siblings and I were all taken away from my dad and put into foster care. My youngest brother got adopted and came to visits for 6 months. I hadn't talked to him until about 2 years ago. He found me on Facebook and he told me he's very unhappy where he lives and he'd love to see me. We talked for a few days before his adopted dad found out and messaged me to not contact him and blocked me. My brother would be 15 now and I feel like that's old enough to decide if you'd like to see a sibling. Until he was almost 4 years old I was like his mother. Is there anyway I can go to court to get visits with him? How would I start that process? If not how much trouble could I get into if I did something like going to his school and talking to him for a few minutes? There are no legal restraining orders. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 You might want to contact the agency that handled the adoption. Current federal law ( [42 U.S.C. §671(a)(31)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/671), part of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008) required most foster/adoption agencies to make reasonable efforts to ensure that siblings placed separately are allowed contact.

Depending on what state you are in, you may or may not be able to go to court to obtain visitation. At this point, however, you've been told to stay away from another person's legal child, and until you get permission from the parent or from the agency or court, going to his school could get you made the subject of a restraining order.


Title: How do I go about legally selling my home roasted coffee beans?

Question:
I've been roasting coffee at home for a while and have gotten very good feedback from friends and family. I've put together a name and logo and want to go about trying to sell some of my coffee, but I'm not sure what is required legally or really where to even seek that information out.

I want to sell on a very small scale to friends, family, co workers, word of mouth to start. I want to hand deliver only and maybe break into the farmers market scene. I would also like to try my hand at a website to just advertise a little, but not have an online shop.

Does anyone have any ideas on what's legally required to make this happen? Thanks for your help!

Answer:
 For almost every state you'll need: A commercial space with an approved kitchen, health department permit, fire dept occupancy, Local EPA review, and FDA  (yes, FDA registration is required for coffee roasters of *any* size), and possibly other state and municipal hurdles depending on where you live.

You *may* be able to get your garage (or other portion of your home) licensed as a commercial roastery, but you will still have to follow the same rules as the big guys.

Good luck!


Title: What type of attorney handles a pregnancy discrimination case?

Question: We're been calling around to the local attorneys and we're having trouble finding one that handles pregnancy discrimination. There's social security attorneys, medical malpractice attorneys, etc etc.. What kind would handle pregnancy discrimination?

Answer: Employment attorney


Title: Pool Security Guard Taking Pictures of Underage Swimmers - AZ, USA

Question:
The security guard at my community (public) pool is known around the neighborhood for being a creep. There are facebook threads full of parents talking about how he'd taken pictures of their 8 or so year old daughters at the pool or at the park next to the pool. I personally witnessed him doing this the other night to a group of girls who couldn't have been older than 10 (I am 100% sure this is what he was doing, I saw his phone screen), and I'm pretty sure he's taken a picture of me (not sure, didn't see the screen). As far as my digging has gotten me there's no hard evidence of any of his actions, but there are security cameras at the pool.

&#x200B;

I understand that in Arizona it's legal to photograph people in public as long as there's no reasonable expectation of privacy. But 10 year old girls in bathing suits? Please save my faith in humanity and tell me there's a legal line this guy's crossing. Do I have grounds to report him?
Topic:
Douche

Answer: Yes. Dressed children in public are still able to have their picture taken by strangers. Not illegal. Don't go to the pool if there is a creep working there


Title: British cousin impregnated me

Question:
Hey guys, a friend told me you might be able to help me out. I'll start with saying I live in Alabama and the baby daddy lives in Britain.

So basically there was a death in the family and our uncle and his family flew us out to Britain to attend the funeral and wake. My cousins all grew up abroad so we've never met or anything and when all us kids met we all got along really well. Two of us, a little too well. By kids I mean we're all in our early 20's I should add.

When we were hanging out at my cousins house it was me, him, his girlfriend and my younger sister. The whole night we were complimenting each other's accents and sharing laughs. I think at some point his girlfriend got jealous or something because she became really clingy and kept exclaiming things like "MY boyfriend". So long story short we all got really drunk and the girlfriend and my sister ended up falling asleep in their chairs. I was just drunk enough to take exception to the girlfriends attitude all night and decided to get even,so since we were both still awake I led him to the bedroom. in short, I slept with my cousin.

So here's where the problem starts. 10 weeks later here I am pregnant, back home in the US. He doesn't know I'm pregnant much less that it's his baby. I don't know how to tell my family or his family and I'm going to need financial help raising this thing. Is he somehow protected from paying support because he lives in another country?

I don't even know where to start looking for answers and I know I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Answer: Being in Britain will not prevent him from paying support, however I would check and make sure that intercourse between first cousins is not illegal there. Answer #2: I think you need to backup a few lines when you said “here’s where the problem started”...like the part where you drunkenly decided to have sex with your relative.


Title: US-CT my cousins ex girlfriend is “banning” him from the delivery room for the birth of his unborn daughter

Question: She is also saying she wont allow him to sign the Birth Certificate . She has publicly admitted the child is his in the past and even had a gender reveal party with him where she plastered the pics on social media. Is there anything he can do?

Answer:
 He needs to speak to an attorney so that he can get established his parental rights AFTER the child is born.

Until the child is born, and those rights are established, he has none.

Under no \[reasonable\] circumstances will the hospital allow a person in the delivery room against the consent of the mother.Answer #2: Do you honestly believe somebody not involved in the medical care of the patient has some kind of right to be present during a medical procedure against the will of the patient?Answer #3: No she's not "banning" him, she's banning him. He won't be allowed in.Answer #4: He can file court paperwork for custody or visitation when the child is born.  This will also likely incur some level of support from him and may require a paternity test.Answer #5: No, the mother can allow/disallow whomever she wants from the delivery room.

Your cousin should be more focused on hiring a lawyer to get the ball rolling on custody because it sounds like she is going to fight it.


Title: I’ve have had the cops called on me 3x by my downstairs neighbor and I don’t know what to do.

Question:
I live in a busy city and surprisingly I am fed up with my downstairs neighbor. My gf and I moved into a new apartment last May and have gotten complaint after complaint from our downstairs neighbor. It began as angry notes pinned to our mailbox which, at first we felt ashamed for walking too loudly, but after the 5th message when were were at home doing nothing besides watching TV and going to bed at 10-11pm we realized our neighbor might be crazy.  We notified the property manager and he said he would tell her no more notes. We were good for a bit, but then she started calling the cops directly.

Now I am writing this after being woken up in the middle of the night for the third night in two weeks from a violent knock on the door from the city police telling me that a noise complaint was being phoned in from my downstairs neighbor. The police felt as embarrassed as I did when I opened the door in my boxers with them asking  me if I was  having a party. I have no idea what to do legally and what rights I have, but this seems like harassment to me. There is nothing scarier than being woken up in the middle of the night by policemen at your door knocking like it’s a big drug raid or something when you are fast asleep. I know laws in California tend to favor the bottom tenant but this seems completely unreasonable.

 Anyways the times we have talked to our downstairs neighbor she has yelled at us and told us we are not “being like adults” and “stepping too loudly”, but we are simply living in our apartment. We both work relatively late, but take our shoes off when we are at home and are careful not to run the dishwasher at night (after an angry note telling us not to do so). A big part of me wants to knock on her door, stomp on the floor and wake her up in the middle of the night too, but I don’t want to start an even bigger battle.  I have no idea what to do or legally what I can do. File a harassment suit? Complain once again to our property manager?

The cops told me to talk to the landlord which I did, but I just got woken up again tonight so I guess that didn’t work out too well. My gf is fed up, as am I after tonight, but not sure what steps to take next. I live in San Francisco/CA which I know has all sorts of tenant-landlord laws so I feel completely helpless here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.   I can post images of the notes if needed.

Answer:
 Visit the Tenant's union: https://www.sftu.org/

They have drop in hours: https://www.sftu.org/sched-2/

Totally free, and they'll counsel you on what your rights are.

Answer #2: A similar situation happened to my husband and me. We closed the toilet seat too loudly. Our tv was too loud even when the volume was so low we couldn't really hear it. We had visits from sympathetic cops. The wife would scream her rage at us so loudly we could hear it through the floor, and she would bang on the ceiling with a broom handle. They called the leasing office constantly to complain about us, which actually led to our solution: the leasing office got so fed up, the evicted *them*. So my advice is to (politely, and at reasonable hours) notify the landlord each time your neighbor calls the police. You may get the problem solved without needing to resort to legal options.Answer #3: There's going to be some very nice sales on speakers and subwoofers this weekend.


Title: Car got towed and the police came knocking.

Question: So I am from New Jersey. Last night I guess my sister parked her car blocking my neighbors driveway a bit. He called the cops and got the car towed. This morning when my sister couldn't find her car, she asked me to go ask the neighbor if he got it towed away. I went there to ask nicely but he is the one who started yelling at me thinking I was the one who parked the car and he went nuts. I walked away didn't say anything. An hour later this cop comes knocking at my door asking if I went over to talk to the guy. I don't understand, was I not suppose to go talk to him? I didn't even say anything disrespectful or such. The cop took my name said "nothing to worry about, it's just a simple report". What do I do if the situation escalates? I am not even an adult. I'm currently 17.

Answer: Nothing wrong with the police coming over to talk to you. He probably blew the story out of proportion and said you were yelling at him or something similar. The cop was just following up and gathering information for his report. You're fine.


Title: Child tax credit

Question:
So, many years back, Me and my partner adopted a friend's child (long story but she gave up her rights and Grandmother is her legal guardian and my partner is listed as the father) The kid is now five years old and lives with Grandmother full time (grandmother is very unfair with time and only allows visit at particular time and never sleep overs.
 Every year that we file taxes we claim her and give grandma half the tax credit -with Grandma's verbal approval. throughout the year Grandma also asks for money for random stuffs which we always gave. Fast forward to today, she decided to file taxes (apparently she hasn't filed in YEARS) found out that we've been claiming her as she has previously agreed to. But now she's claiming she never did, now she's saying she's getting an attorney and will sue us for fraud, claiming we never gave her any money!?!?!

Im so fucking pissed, my partner never kept any record of giving her money and there was no written agreement what so ever! other than random texts. Grandma is over there claiming our love and support for baby girl was all for money! UGH!!!

I'm so mad I'm freaking out right now. I do not know where to start with all this crap. Im telling my partner he should just take his name out of the girl's birth certificate since he's not the actual biological father anyway. If Grandma is going to cause all these issues.

But here's my actual question, what can we do?

Located in Maryland

Answer: You entered into an agreement to commit tax fraud and now it's coming back to bite you in the a**. The IRS isn't going to help you. If grandma can legitimately claim the kid and does so, they will send you both letters and if she has more evidence she provided most of the support then they will amend your tax return and send you a bill including penalty and interest. They can go back 3 years and up to 6 in some cases although I do not believe that would apply here.


Title: Father owes $55-60k in child support

Question:
Father owes $55-60k in child support which we worry we won't see. He's supposed to pay around 600 a month but only pays about 25. We've tried to contact to collect it but he has no job to take from and all accounts are in his wife's name. Is there any way to be able to collect it? We're worried it will be harder to collect when I'm 18.
Sorry if this is the wrong place for this.
Live in OK
father lives in CO

Answer:
 $55-60k is definitely speak to an attorney territory.  Find a family lawyer that is willing to offer a free consultation to talk about optionsAnswer #2: it won't be any harder to collect later than it is now.

You can call CSE in your state and ask them why he hasn't been jailed yet, if he's easy to find.  You likely aren't ever going to see any money unless he goes to jail though.  Impossible to get blood from a turnip and all that.


Title: [North Dakota] How many on duty hours in the oilfield can you work legally and safely?

Question:
I work for a service company in the oil and gas industry( don’t want to give away to many details). Our guys regularly pull 24-60 hours on wellsites with little to no rest or relief for rest. Sometimes it can be several days without sleep in an actual bed with only short naps in the cab of a pickup. Once we do get 10 hours of rest we are required to go on another job right away or work in the shop for 8 hours.

Is any of this legal? What steps should I be taking to protect myself and colleagues?

Answer:
 Interesting and related: Turns out that recent developments set precedent that oil-field service workers are exempt from FSLA overtime rules...which doesn't meant that they are exempt from the rest of the rules, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to seem them stretching them.

See:

[*Allen, et al. v. Coil Tubing Services, L.L.C.*](http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/12/12-20194-CV0.pdf), No. 12-20194 (5th Cir. June 13, 2014)

So, as regards the rest periods, if the employee works a shift of 24 hrs or more, FLSA permits a 'sleep time exclusion' of up to 8hrs; this requires an 'agreement' by the employees and that 'sleeping facilities' are provided. If the rest period is interrupted and not at least 5 hours, the entire time must be counted as working time. No sleep time exclusion for shifts less than 24hrs.

Beyond that, this is out of my wheelhouse, hopefully an employment attorney can chime in here with some relevant info.Answer #2: I'd speak to the operator's HSE rep on site, not the service companies.


Title: (Nebraska) Charged with trafficking of 50 lbs of MJ. 4th amendment rights violated. Police video proves it. Need advice and can post video if it will help and if that's ok to do with the case still pending?

Question:
Hi reddit,

  I'm in some deep shit and need some help. From browsing the forum, I'm assuming the first piece of advice would be to hire a paid attorney. Accomplished that, I have a paid attorney. The only problem is I don't necessarily trust him..

  Which is why I would like to post the police video and get some opinions of attorneys on this site... Basically, I feel my 4th amendment rights were violated. What the officers who arrested me are alleging is that they entered an Amtrak train and smelled MJ coming from a suitcase. They then searched the suitcase, (before making any attempt to get a search warrant or find the owner of the suitcase) found MJ, then attempted to find the owner of the suitcase. They questioned me and afterwards decided they had enough evidence to decide it was my suitcase (Sorry, I'm afraid of saying too much). I was then arrested and spent two weeks in jail before being bonded out. I'm out on bond right now.

  When questioning me, I denied ownership of the suitcase. My lawyer is telling me that: I would have a good shot at getting the evidence suppressed since they searched the suitcase without a warrant or before asking permission from the owner. But, since I denied ownership of the suitcase, it is considered abandoned. Even though they searched the suitcase before asking me if it belonged to me. The order of events do not matter. All that matters is I denied ownership. This sounds very nonsensical to me. I can't wrap my brain around how this is allowed... in America of all places? The police can go on a train and search any suitcase they want to based on smell alone (which was 100% a lie btw) and don't need a warrant or permission from anybody?? Is this really true? Or is my lawyer steering me towards the plea deal because it means less work? I even told him if it lost in a suppression hearing I was ok with it and felt good about my chances at trial since they violated my rights. His exact words were, "This is Nebraska. We are the most conservative state in the nation. If this was CA, I would tell you to fight it, but if we present this in front of a jury of my peers YOU WILL GO TO PRISON." He also said he agreed with me that my rights were violated but since I denied ownership I would lose at a suppression hearing, anyways. And then a plea deal would be off the table. How could he be so certain?

  I really feel in over my head and stressed beyond belief. I am thinking of taking the plea deal just to be done with this whole mess and move on with my life. But, what if they did violate my rights and I can beat these charges? Consider this my one last hail mary before taking the plea deal. So, if anybody out there could please help me out, I will be forever grateful.

Topic:
Searches and Seizures

Answer:
 If you don't trust your lawyer, get another one.  I'm not even kidding.

Also, your lawyer gets paid for the work he or she does, so telling you to take a plea deal isn't financially their best option.

And also, given that you were on a train, I think it wouldn't be hard to prove that if they had waited for a search warrant, the train would have left.  We usually call this [exigent circumstances](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exigent_circumstance).

[There is a whole book about drug interdiction on trains](https://books.google.com/books?id=u5HLBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA188&lpg=PA188&dq=exigent+circumstances+train&source=bl&ots=nLr7kJ9Pp_&sig=JBmMDdV2-j_itlgdHPgjn3FezSU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDAQ6AEwA2oVChMItLfg9NLexgIViTqSCh3oQAOJ#v=onepage&q=abandoned&f=false).Answer #2: For starters, it's difficult and borderline unethical to attempt to second-guess your attorney, because he has firsthand access to the evidence and a better understanding of the facts.

An issue, and what your attorney might be thinking about, is that if the briefcase is not yours, then *you* have no standing to bring a 4th amendment claim.  The true owner of the briefcase does.

There are other issues as well.  Since a briefcase is portable, the officers could almost certainly seize it and obtain a warrant later.  If that would lead inevitably to discovery of the same evidence, resulting in inferring the same connection between the briefcase and a particular person, it may "cure" the hypothetically unlawful search.  No point in suppressing evidence that would have been discovered had the officers followed the rules more strictly.

I don't know how much of this your attorney is thinking about, but you gotta go with your gut.   You are at liberty to fire your attorney and/or seek a second opinion.


Title: Legal consequences of failing a pre-employment drug test

Question: Hello, I am a minor with no previous drug-related legal problems currently applying for a job which requires a drug test (urine). I assume that a wide range of intoxicants would be tested for beyond just marijuana. If I were to take this test and fail it for marijuana and alcohol presence in the urine, what legal trouble would I find my self in? Would the testing facility be obligated to report me to police/appropriate authorities?

Answer: No they just wont hire you. That's all.


Title: Landlord charging me for AC

Question:
I live in Madison, WI.  In my lease it says that "Tenant agrees to pay $40 per month for each air conditioner they install if electricity is included in the rent."  My electricity is NOT included in the rent, but I was given the $40 fee regardless.  Then, in a different section of the lease, it says "Air conditioners are not permitted unless specifically authorized.  A charge of $40 will occur within every month that the unit is installed, if electricity is not separately metered.  There will be no exceptions to this rule.  Tenant must provide written notice to Landlord when an A/C unit is installed or removed."

I emailed my Landlord a week ago asking permission to install the unit.  after a few days of not hearing back from them, I went ahead and installed it anyway, because it was hot as hell.  I was assessed a $40 fee for this month's rent, even though we are being separately metered for electricity.  Where do I stand in terms of making this payment?

Answer:
 You are bound by the terms of the lease.

By my reading of those terms, as long as the electricity is separately metered you do not have to pay any additional fees. Since it's separate, you seem to be in the clear.


Title: [TN] Awful neighbor is engaged in illegal activities related to drugs. How do I get the police to take notice?

Question:
Putting aside questions of whether this is morally the correct course of action, I would like to know if the police will take a tip that someone is selling drugs, specifically marijuana, seriously. I do not want to give my information to them due to fear of retaliation.

I have a neighbor I do not like at all. She is tall, arrogant, unceasingly rude to everyone, and continually parks her large SUV in ways that make parts of the main roads impassable or block driveways. Unfortunately for her, it is a known fact that she buys weed and sells it to her friends. This is known because she has talked loudly about it when thinking no one could hear her and because there is an unusual amount of traffic coming and going from her (rented) home.

I doubt she is a big time dealer. I suspect she’s not doing anything that would constitute a felony. Will police do anything if I make an anonymous complaint against her?

tl;dr: Will police act on an anonymous tip about a neighbor who is a small time weed dealer?

Answer: (“Tall”?)


Title: My husband [28m] and I [27f] received a call from Child Protective Services in regards to my stepson's mother and stepfather and their living conditions. What should we expect to deal with working with CPS and what should we do to best go forward with all of this?

Question:
My husband has a 5 year old son with his former wife. I have known my husband and my stepson for the past 3 years. Love them both to pieces. Last Friday, my husband received a call from Child Protective Services. My stepson's mother and/or stepfather were reported to CPS for having uncleanly living conditions -- something we were afraid of but unable to prove -- and now also allegations of drug use in the home. My husband only spoke briefly with the CPS agent (if that's what they are called?) and we are waiting for a call back hopefully this week since everything was brought to our attention late last Friday. He received a call today (Tuesday) from the mother, saying she found out her husband (the stepdad) has been using heroin. Apparently CPS has been looking into it for almost a month? (Hoping to have more answers tomorrow when we get a hold of the person in charge of his case.) She alledges that she did not know he had been using herion, but also states that he never used it in front of my stepson. We have NO idea what to expect or how best to proceed forward with this. If it came to custody issues we would take my stepson in a heartbeat, as we want what is best for him and would be able to provide a home with good income (teacher and social worker over here), and a clean environment. We have had some concerns about his mother in the past, which I am not sure would have any effect on a custody battle.

Some questions that we have: What do we expect to hear from CPS? What should we be getting ready for a custody battle? How do CPS reports work/how are they handled? What should/shouldn't we say to my stepson's mother when we pick him up for our time with him? What type of evidence should we be compiling together? Just any advice on what to do or expect next would be appreciated.

EDIT: Apologies. We are located in Indiana.
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: I don't have a ton of advice to offer you, but I would suggest you wait until CPS gives their final ruling before you actually make any custody filings, as IF they are officially found negligent in some capacity, it will be more leverage for you in the custody situation. But there's absolutely nothing wrong with seeking out a lawyer who practices family law, in preparation for eventually asking for full custody.


Title: I need some legal advice to aid in the investigation of my sister who was murdered and burned in a house fire by her millionaire husband. Is there a better subreddit to pose this question? I need serious help. I feel like I'm fighting a brick wall (legally)

Question:
Is hiring an investigator a good idea? A lawyer? when to file the wrongful death case so her kids have something? I'm located in the united states.

Edit: I understand details are lacking but anyone with some legal help I will pm the details.

Answer:
 And you say she was murdered because... The medical examiner ruled the death to be a homicide?  Or some other reason?Answer #2: are her kids not her husbands children?

maybe post your story to one of those amateur detective message boards.


Title: Need Legal Advice: Child Support For Bastards (NYS)

Question:
[It's me -- I'm the bastard.]

I've been searching for laws regarding this situation for quite some time, but I can never seem to find this particular situation addressed. So here comes the "hypothetical":

Two people are married. They have one child together, then a second. Spoiler: the second child is the product of an affair, even though the birth certificate says otherwise. In time, these people divorce. Custody is awarded to parent #1, and parent #2 pays child support for both kids.

Fast forward 20 years.
The secret is broken. Parent #2 sues parent #1 for the entirety of the support given the second child.

My question is this: is the second child considered a product of the *marriage itself*, thus entitling parent #1 to the support given? Or does the total cost of its upbringing fall on parent #1?

Any advice offered would be greatly appreciated.

Answer: It's generally the case that children born into a marriage are legally the product of that marriage until a court says otherwise. I'm nearly certain that cannot be changed retroactively.


Title: Banned from a restaurant and threatened with trespassing charges just because somebody complained- about something I didn't do. [NJ]

Question:
I'm gonna keep this short:

&#x200B;

I was waiting for my food at a local restaurant that I go to. It isn't a sit-down kind of place, just a counter and a few seats to wait for your food. I am very good friends with two of the staff members and on good terms with the other two who were there. One of my friends, A, tells me that she has no way to get home after her shift. I offer A a ride since her shift ended in about 10 minutes. A jokingly comments that she's afraid of how I drive. A, my other friend, and I, proceed to have a friendly conversation until my food is ready. I take the food and leave.

&#x200B;

About 20 minutes later, I get a call from the owner (who I used to be friendly with) and he says that the other customer (about a 70-year-old woman) who was waiting for her food called the management line and complained that I was in the store arguing with the staff. I told him that our conversation was far from an argument. He tells me that she wouldn't lie. I hung up on him because I really didn't want to deal with manufactured drama.

&#x200B;

Then, my brother (who is really good friends with the owner) calls me and accuses me of the same thing. I cleared it up with him, and he informed me that if I ever step foot in the restaurant again I will be charged with trespassing.

&#x200B;

Is a business owner legally allowed to ban me and charge me with trespassing over something that never happened? I have 3 staff member witnesses that attest to me not arguing with anybody and all the business owner has is a single phone call from a random customer.

Answer: Yes. A business can ban you from their property. And if you go there, after being told not to, they can call the police and you could get charged with tresspassing.


Title: Is it illegal to take advantage of a broken ATM? [NM]

Question:
Location is New Mexico.

This morning I went to an ATM to withdraw 40 dollars in two 20-dollar bills.

As it turns out, the ATM was broken, because it ended up dispensing two 100 dollar bills.

I'm not an ATM expert, so maybe I'm wrong and there's an optical bill reader or whatever, but I imagine the bills were just loaded in incorrectly.

After seeing this happen, I took advantage of the situation and made another withdrawal— a much, much larger one.

Is this legal? What do I do now?

Answer:
 You go to the bank and tell them what happened and return the excess money.

ATMs are not anonymous; they record your card, the account you accessed, and you were probably on camera. They'll figure out what happened when they check the ATM next. This is not free money.Answer #2: Your bank will take that money from your account.


Title: A university overcharged my wife on her tuition, and now refuses to refund all of the money owed to us.

Question:
My wife recently completed an online masters degree program at a university in Indiana. She began the program while we lived in North Carolina, but I was active duty military stationed there, so we both remained Indiana residents the entire time (The Military Spouse Act allowed her to keep her Indiana residence). We paid Indiana state taxes and our permanent address was an Indiana address. Towards the end of her program, we noticed that the university had been charging her for  "out of state" tuition the entire time, a difference of more than 200 dollars a credit hour. When we contacted the university, they (the Dean of Admissions) informed us that we should have caught the mistake earlier, and that they would only refund her for the current semester. They refused to refund her for the previous 6 semesters, which added up to more than 3,500 dollars in over payment.

We contacted a lawyer, and he said that he believed he could get us our money back. He also informed us of his hourly rate. We are a young growing family and can't really afford to hire a lawyer unless we know for certain that we will get the money from the university.

Does anyone know whether the university is legally obligated to refund us the money? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I am aware that we should have paid more attention to the bill itself, but even the bill was vague. The only indication that she was being charged at the out of state rate was a subsection of the bill that said "NR out" along with an additional fee. I must have glanced over it not realizing what it was.

Answer:
 Go to your legal office on base. Answer #2: Contact the VA, go to the educational center, and seek the legal on post. they are defrauding the government. This happens constantly, we are cash cows to them.Answer #3: The answer will be if the contract limits the timeframe (and if valid), what the law for a recovery window is, and what that cost difference is.

Feel free to shop for lawyers, if you're still active use your tools, if not lots of vet attorney aid groups exist who can help point you in a direction. Good luck Answer #4: contact this group - they will either help you or refer you to someone who can - very likely for no charge https://studentveterans.org/

I've worked with this group on many student loan issues - they are fantastic


Title: Ex girlfriend is trying to get me to return something she gave me as a gift.

Question:
While we were dating, she received a new laptop as a gift and then gifted me her old one. Skip forward a few weeks and I ended things. Several days after separating, she texted me telling me she's letting me keep the laptop and just asked that I factory reset it to remove all her info from it. I obliged and set the thing up with all my stuff and made it my own. About a week after that conversation, she saw me hanging out with a friend (who happened to be a girl). She freaked out and is now demanding the laptop back. I intend to keep it, as it seems she only wishes to have it back now out of spite and doesn't actually need it. So 1) Am I in the right, legally speaking, to keep the laptop? And 2) I've already told her to leave me alone; if she keeps bothering me about it, is it technically harassment?

Also, we both live in Virginia if that changes anything.

Thanks in advanced!

Answer:
 1) yes.  Make sure you back up that text of her telling you to keep it (and any other related ones) as those are simple proof it was a gift.

2) at a certain point yes, it crosses the line into harassment.  Block her on all social media after a simple “do not message or contact me again” (which you’ll save a screenshot of) and then block her calls and texts and whatnot as well.  If she continues to harass beyond that you can head down to the police station and discuss with them.Answer #2: You're under no obligation to give it back. A gift is a gift. Answer #3: You still have the text where she tells you that you can keep it right? Keep that text. If this goes to court, that (in my not-a-lawyer opinion) makes your case extremely hard to lose.


Title: Dog bit me

Question:
Sorry if I'm doing this wrong as this is my first Reddit post.

So I'm currently a senior in high school in Ohio. We play a game that's called senior shootout. It's basically a water gun fight that's a bracket system of teams of 4. So I went to my opponents team House to try and elimate him. His neighbors were kind enough to let me hide out in their car, so I say in it for a few hours waiting for him to get home. At around 4:50 his mom got home and let his dog out but left the garage open. I waited around 5 to 10 minutes before getting out of the car to check out the garage as we can hide and shoot into them. However, the dog ran out start barking at me, so I backed off. I tried to show it I was friendly but it tried to bite me and I ran off. I waited till around 5:20 since it was raining and thundering before I went to check out the garage again. This time I was in the garage getting ready to hide under the car when I noticed the dog was in the garage. I ran and again the dog tried to bite me. I went back to the car Ive been hiding in and waiting more. My opponent got home at 5:40ish and I watch as he pulled into the garage. Once he was in, I moved in but his dog ran out and tried to bite me for the third time. I squirt some water at it, checkwd to see if I could get my opponent out but he was still in his car so I tried to run away. As I ran, his dog got me in the calf. I had to go to the hospital and get stitches. The doctor said it was the deepest dog bite she had seen. I did have to fill out a form on the attack. I've since learned that I'm the 3rd or 4th person this dog has bitten. My question is should I get a lawyer to seek legal action? Or should I just go through their insurance?
Also I do have a picture of the wound after the attack if that is helpful. Wasn't sure if I was allowed to show it.

Thanks for any advice in advance.

Edit: I realized people are pointing out that I was trespassing but I just wanted to point out 3 people from the other team around 40 minutes before this incident went to my gfs house, ran around back yards and even hid in her garage too, it's the game

Answer:
 You can contact animal control about the bite buy FYI you cannot just go into someone's garage without permission and if you were uninnvited on their property (i.e. trespassing) then they may not be liable for the dog bite in any way.

Edit: Also, you almost got bit multiple times and kept going back? Is it too much to ask that people exercise some base level of common sense.Answer #2: Forget about the game bc that doesn’t even matter. Not only were you a trespasser, but that dog gave you two warnings and you still went back again.

I’d be too embarrassed by my own actions to try and make someone else responsible.

This isn’t how life works. Welcome to it.


Title: Wife took our son and I don’t know where they are.

Question: Title says it. I came home and everything was gone. This is so sudden and I am completely in shock. This came from nowhere. My question is can she keep ignoring me and hiding our son? What can I do?

Answer: Call a family lawyer tomorrow and get everything started.


Title: [TX] Legal Immigrant Burglarised. Should I call the cops?

Question:
I am legal immigrant. I have been living in the US for 3.5 yrs. I moved to Dallas, TX for a new job. I live in an apartment with roommates. I am **not** on the rental lease (my current job is a temporary contract, so I never cared about being on the lease agreement).

Last night, my roommate woke me up around 2am. We were burglarised. I lost my cell phone, tablet, wallet and backpack. I can comfortably replace all these items, money is not a problem.

Should I call the cops? I am hesitating because I am worried about the following things:

* I don't want the apartment rental agency to be involved. If they discover that I am not on the lease, they might kick me out.

* I come from a 3rd world country, where law enforcement and the government is corrupt. I got conditioned to avoid dealing with authorities, if I don't have to.

* I am in the job interview process for a federal government job. There will be a thorough background check/investigation. I don't know if calling the cops might go into my records. I want to keep them squeaky clean, as they are right now.

**Edit**
I spoke to cop, he made a report.

I have some docs in my backpack with SSN, driver's license, date/place of birth listed on them. Are there any ways that I can protect myself from potential identity theft.

Answer:
 Being the victim of a crime will not affect your clearance.

You do not *have* to get the landlords involved if you call the police.  You're correct that you may potentially be found out and kicked out; but that's unlikely.


Title: (KS) Who do I call for foster kid issues?

Question: So someone I know is trying to get foster kids for money. I figured since this person wouldn't get them due to many issues one of which being a terrible credit history (I figure the state would do an extensive background check before they give out kids to someone). But they have been put in the classes that are required to get a foster kid. She straight up told me that she lied on the application to get the kid and that she's just doing it for the money. I feel like I should report it to someone but I don't know who, I would also like to report anonymously due to the fact that she is the kind of person who would retaliate. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Answer: There is a lot to do after the classes. Classes are generally first. So I wouldnt stress it yet. But you can certainly call the local CPS office and explain your concerns. Answer #2: [You'd report it to this agency](http://www.dcf.ks.gov/Pages/default.aspx).  They tend to take these things seriously, and there's (thankfully) quite a few steps between application and placement.  [Here is a link to their Fraud & Abuse prevention hotlines](http://www.dcf.ks.gov/Agency/GC/Pages/Fraud/Fraud-Investigation-Unit.aspx)Answer #3: If she gets much further than classes, you can call CPS or the foster agency themselves, but I'd be shocked if she went through with it. Being a foster parent is a lot of work and commitment and she'll find out pretty quickly she's not gonna turn a profit even if she wants toAnswer #4: Social Services


Title: Why are pirate websites not blocked?

Question:
Illegal streaming websites etc have pretty much been around since the beginning of time and it seems that they are not being dealt with. Sure, sometimes these sites are blocked by the court, but the vast majority seem to be doing fine. (I'm talking about movie and music streaming sites, e.g. putlocker)

Occasionally, specific videos are taken down due to copyright infringement, but the website is not taken down. If that is a breach of law, then why isn't there punishment to the site itself (only videos are removed, no further punishment.)

tl;dr Why can't pirate sites be dealt with easily?  Location: UK, but i don't think it matters too much
Topic:
Computer and Internet

Answer: I'm not sure what sites, specifically, you are referring to, but so long as the content is user-uploaded and the site is DMCA compliant, it's probably not an illegal site. At least not technically.


Title: Why can a judge turn a blind eye in a child abuse case?

Question:
I filed a petition to have my daughter removed from her mother’s custody. It was denied by the judge who said it was not a serious issue.

Here are some of the items that was brought to his attention.

•	Mother is have sex in the bed while the child is next to them

•	Child is going weeks at a time without food and her friends are having to buy her food to eat

•	Child has missed 47 days of school and failed because she could not take her finals

•	Mother is addicted to pills and is strung out all the time

•	Mother is having a criminal warrant issued on Aug 11th and Child will be headed to state custody.

•	Mother and child has bounced from hotel to hotel the past 2.5 years and even shelters

There are a lot more items of interest as well as to why the child should be removed.

So I am looking for answers as to why a child is left in this situation when there is someone willing to pick her up and get the help she needs.

I want to know why the judge said this is not a serious issue.

Some of the information I have are emails from the school VP, guidance councilor, truancy officer, family (both sides). All of this went before the judge.

Everything we have been taught about protecting kids is false at this time. I am just trying to get answers as to why?

*UPDATE*
I did find out today that the criminal warrant has been issued on the mother. She will be issued a summons tomorrow to not remove the child from TN.

Answer:
 >Mother is having a criminal warrant issued on Aug 11th and Child will be headed to state custody.

Why are you not taking custody of her at that time?  Why would she be going into state custody?Answer #2: No one can know what the judge was thinking. My guess is that you did not have proof of the concerning accusations.Answer #3: So, first of all this is not a "child abuse case."

It's a custody case.  If you want to allege child abuse, report it to the police and let them investigate.

As to why the judge made the decision (s)he made, I have a question for you...

What evidence do you have of these allegations?  Anyone can go into court and say terrible things about their ex in order to get custody of the kids... What hard evidence do you have to support your accusations?

And I wonder what your ex would say about YOU if we were able to hear both sides?

Do you have an attorney in this case?  If not, get one.


Title: Parents let family member live in their 2nd house. family member has destroyed the house, is selling large amounts of drugs from it and will not leave. need advice on the laws and rights of both my parents and the family member and how to proceed.

Question:
several years ago my parents let a 1st cousin move into their house. since then he has failed to pay rent in excess of 25000, turned the house in to a rubbish dump, wrecked doors, walls, roofs and appliances, is a somewhat large weed dealer directly from the house (highly probable he is growing it there too) and will not leave.

my parents dont have the legal knowledge or backbone to stand tall in this situation and are getting taken for a ride by everyone involved. they dont have a lawyer because the struggle to afford one. this situation is already way too far out of hand and is only getting worse the longer it goes on.

we need this lowlife out of our house and our life but have NO idea on who has more rights or the specific avenues to take in this situation!

any advice would be greatly appreciated :(

we are also in australia if that helps.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 /r/auslaw can help. In the US? You need an attorney - now!

I hope auslaw can help :)


Title: Friend just revealed to me his brother raped him at 13 years old when he was 8.

Question:
Is there anything he can do, this was close to 9 years ago, I’m still trying to get details, but his mother isn’t doing anything.

Edit: He lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Answer:
 He can report it to the police, let them do an investigation, and allow the legal system to handle it.Answer #2: If he was 8 years old 9 years ago that makes him 17. He is still a minor so the statute of limitations has most likely not begun to toll. There is plenty he can do.

Start with a lawyer, report the incident to the police. That's the jumping off point. There is also potential for a civil action but start with lawyer and police report and go,from there.Answer #3: Is he still in school? Is he willing to talk to the school counselor about this?

Yes, he can go to the police, but that may be something he's concerned about doing right now.

You should also tell him about the website https://www.rainn.org/

They have operators who will talk to him about his options and how he can get help.Answer #4: Your title is confusing, was the rapist 13 at the time? And the victim 8 years old? Because the age of the perpetrator definitely defines what can and cannot be done.

Edit: Additional comments. It is important for your friend to go into counseling, there is a lot of support out there for people who have gone through this. Even if nothing happens legally, it’s important to be able to process it and then eventually be able to move past the trauma.


Title: Husbands Best Friend is staying with us. United States, Michigan

Question:
Hi There.

Hoping to get some direction on a very sensitive issue.

My husband's Best Friend was kicked out of the house by his wife. He owns said house, her name is not on the house or the mortgage (which, I cannot seem to get over that, logically flawed - she should have left).
It is unclear what the circumstances were and they won't tell us. He has been staying with us as he does not have family in the state.

Husband and I agreed to let him stay for two weeks and spoke with him about this.

He doesn't seem like someone who would take advantage of us, but obviously I want to protect myself and my husband from squatting. Should I draft up a contract and have us both sign?

Answer:
 If you sign a document, the courts are going to look at it as a tenancy. Which then you have to evict him.

If it is for 2 weeks and you have no contract and accept no money from them. A court is unlikely to look as tenancy and that person was a house guest.

* Guests who pay rent
* Guests are receiving mail at the property
* Guests that spend every night at the property
* Guests that have moved-in furniture or pets
* Guests that make maintenance requests

So if you remain no on most of those items, they are unlikely to be considered a tenant.


Title: Squat the squatter

Question:
Hi, say my friend has an apartment that became vacant and some people started squatting in it less than 2 weeks ago. He’s called attorneys and they’re saying he has to evict. Can I or anyone else just show up with a lease and just start staying there as well? Provided I have a lease and keys to the place? What can happen? This would be hypothetically in California.

My friend, the owner, wouldn’t be involved in any of this. Someone would just start squatting the squatter.

Answer:
 I have no legal advice about this but I sure want to see how it turns out. This could be a sitcom. Answer #2: I'm not familiar with California squatters rights, but do the squatters have to be there a certain amount of time before they can claim possession? After a short period of time, are they not just tresspassing and whoever hold the deed/lease can simply have them arrested for that?

Otherwise, if you break into somebody's house and they call the cops, can you not just say "Hey, I'm squatting here!" and the cops will say it's a civil matter and not do anything short of a court ordered eviction?Answer #3: I'm going to repeat my warning from the other thread. You're dealing with people who are willing to break the law. Moving in with those people might not be a good idea. They've already trespassed, who knows what other laws they're willing to break? Theft? Assault?


Title: Husband unlawfully arrested

Question:
So I'm in need of some serious help. I will probably lose my house and everything. Not to mention my husband is already taken from me.

Basically, a dually truck (super heavy edition, giant truck) tried to run my husband and I off the road. I'm not going to go into too much detail, but it's obvious from my car damage that we were hit by the truck.

So the problem is, a "witness" showed up a few minutes (3 or 4) after the whole accident. He pulled up behind the dually, got out, and they began talking and laughing and carrying on. The guy that hit us basically told this "witness" what to say. We watched and heard it.

Cops show up. They do not want to hear much of what we have to say. They kept walking away as soon as we would try to talk to them, but they talked with the other guy forever. When we asked the cops what we can do, they refused to speak with us. They would not give any info. When asked about filing charges against the other guy, they said we have no rights to do so. They did not read him his rights either.

Long story short, because this "witness" lied, we were at fault. A SMART CAR. Against a DUALLY. Yeah right.

Here's the problem. They ARRESTED my husband. At first, the cops said it was for aggravated assault. My mom (who showed up for support because of a serious anxiety attack) got a little bit of an attitude with them and basically said that they were not being fair officers of the law. This was after they had put him in the car. When they arrived at the hding facility, they changed his charge to aggravated assault with a DEADLY WEAPON. A SMART CAR is a deadly weapon. They plain face told him that "if his mom would have been a bit calmer, he wouldn't be sitting there with a felony charge." They TOLD HIM they changed his charge because my mother had an attitude. He is now in jail charged with a Class C felony. I have no idea what to do. They are not helping me at all. My husband has a record (nonviolent) so they are automatically assuming him guilty. Everyone we've told this story to is completely baffled. He just spoke with a nice officer at the holding facility who listened to the story and even she was baffled. When I asked the officers if it would help if we could prove he didn't do it through the people who determine that (insurance people I guess) they laughed and said they're not gonna let something help if they can keep it from happening. So they're also preventing us from trying to prove his innocence. Theres no proof. There were no business or cameras around. No other witnesses known. The only proof we have is a large rip in the side of our plastic car that starts from the back and works it's way forward. Any advice or help on what steps I should take moving forward??? We have no money hardly at all. Thanks in advance!

Answer:
 The police don't get to determine what evidence and testimony you bring to court.  He needs a lawyer.  You didn't give your location but in the US if you cannot afford an attorney one can be appointed to you. Most states base that need on your financial situation.  You all should not be talking to the poloce without a lawyer.

And, just fyi, a smart car can in fact be considered a deadly weapon.


Title: [FL] Major company may try to take ownership of a desktop application I developed outside of business hours

Question:
I developed a desktop application on my own time, outside of normal business hours, and on my own computer.  All of the source code and the project itself is on my personal computer, however, I put a basic version of it on my work computer to assist me with my work.  My boss caught wind of it and thought it was great.  Next thing I know my boss scheduled a meeting and a few higher ups asked to see what I made -- they were floored and came up with big plans for me to further develop it with the intent of rolling it out countrywide.  I now have a meeting scheduled with the head of IT.

I'm afraid the company I work for will take my idea/ask for the source code and develop it on their own without giving me any sort of recognition.  I would like to copyright the application to ensure I have legal ownership of it with the plan of contracting it for the company I work for, should they agree.

Some things to note are that I'm a salaried employee with no formal programming experience.  Before management saw this program, there was never a request that I make any sort of application/program.  I am merely an insurance adjuster and there is a potential cost savings of millions of dollars to my company.  The program is in it's infancy and more content needs to be added to achieve optimal results.  I would like to be in control of it and profit from it, if at all possible.  What should I do?

Answer:
 You need to find out if your hire paperwork mentioned whether your company owns software you write while employed.

Then either way, you probably need to hire a very technical IP rights lawyer to assist you with this.


Title: [GA] Can a landlord of an apartment complex ban the possession of firearms?

Question:
I'm signing a lease for August-August at an apartment complex in a college town. I have a firearm that I keep for self-defense. In the lease it says that I cannot.

"Further, Landlord may, without prior notice, immediately terminate the tenancy of any Resident for "good" cause including, but not limited to, the creation or maintenance of a threat to the health and safety of the Residents or other Residents of the Community, suspicion of criminal conduct or behavior, or possession of firearms.  Except for law enforcement officials or security personnel, guns are prohibited at the Community. "

" Resident shall not bring, nor allow any of their guests to bring, into the Apartment or on the Property any explosives, dangerous or hazardous substances, illegal drugs, firearms nor any other weapons. "

" Possession of any firearm or weapon also will constitute a material default of the Lease Agreement, which may not be cured. "

Is it legal for them to prevent ownership of firearms in the apartment, the apartment complex, and even my own car? I'm okay with them saying I can't have it in the apartment, but can they prevent me from even storing it in my car?

Thanks in advance!

Answer: Yes, a landlord can prohibit firearms via a lease agreement in Georgia. Gun ownership is not a protected class under the FHA or any other anti-discrimination laws.


Title: Landlord is making my friend pay for utilities that break.

Question:
Hey guys! So a friend of mine just started renting her own condo a couple months ago in Phoenix, Arizona. This is her first rental. After two weeks of living there, there was a problem with the plumbing of the toilet and the landlord (who fixes things himself) charged her fifty bucks to fix it. Now her freezer is broken (for an unknown reason) and he wants her to fix it and if she doesn't he will charge her for that too. Also, a piece of IKEA glass on a closet door randomly shattered and she went out and bought a replacement but did not want to install it in fear that she would mess it up. He told her he would charge her 100 dollars to install it.

Now, I have rented from many different landlords and I have never come across one who charges me for fixing things like the fridge, garbage disposal, washer, dryer, etc... They have always come out or sent out their own maintenance person to do it.

I was just wondering if there is something that we are both missing about this situation and would love any sort of advice from you all.

Answer: What does the lease say? Also it would help to know where you are.


Title: Apartment manager wants enter inside my home with 24h notice.

Question:
i live in LA and lost job due to COVID-19.

I have sent a request email for rent payment extension with verification of loss of income.

However, the apartment managet has posted a notice as they will enter inside my apartment unit with stating "check if tenant abandoned the unit" + Civil code section 1950.5(f). And I sent an email as I do not agree them to enter. Can they still force to enter inside my unit?

I do not feel safe, harassed, scared and very distressed..

Can apt mgmt enter unit without permission? & evict tenant while requested rent payment extension(provided verification of loss of income)?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Go read your lease. You almost certainly explicitly agreed to this and even if you didn’t, 24 hour *notice* is all that is required. Not permission, notice.


Title: My parents are in bed with a man FINRA barred as being part of a ponzi scheme. He has 50k or so of their money. what do they do now?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 This is an area that I have some expertise in.

Most insurance companies (As /u/Brad_Wesley mentioned in his post)  have a "Free Look Period" that usually ranges from 10 - 30 days.

Even if your parents are past the free look period, they can write a letter to the insurance company stating that the agent back dated the delivery receipts and further explain that they didn't realize that  the policy/contract had so many expenses and surrender charges. Continue explaining in your letter that after further review it is clear that the policy is not what the agent represented and is not in any way suitable for their needs.

Finally tell the insurance company (in the same letter) that your preference would be to get a full refund of your premium dollars immediately without having to make a complaint to the state department of insurance that the agent mislead senior citizens (if they are senior citizens) and falsified documents.

Most insurance companies will jump through hoops to avoid having a complaint filed against them.

One thing your parents have going for them is that the amount they invested is very small and giving the money back will be no big deal for them, nor should the commission charge-back be hard for the agent to bear.

I hope this helps.


Title: What should I wear to small claims court?

Question:
Former employer is suing me for ~$5,000. I don't owe him this. Regardless, I'm not sure what to wear to court. Should I wear a suit? It's hot as fuck out lately. Should I just wear nice jeans and a button up short sleeve shirt?

edit: thanks for the advice everyone. i'll just suck it up and wear a suit and tie :)

Answer:
 No jeans.  You don't necessarily need the full suit, but I'd suggest wearing a tie.Answer #2: Wear something that shows you respect the court and the judge so they'll be more inclined to rule in your favor. Jeans don't typically do that. Answer #3: In Floriduh.  Had to go to small claims court against my former landlord.

I showed up in a nice, feminine suit, addressed the court as Your Honor.  Landlord showed up with the #1 tenant/LL attorney in town.  LL was dressed in cowboy boots, blue jeans, a wife beater shirt with a beer logo on it and a cowboy hat.

Despite his attorney, I won.  Dressing appropriately goes a looooong way in court.Answer #4: No jeans.  Minimum of a Polo and Kakhis.  Better would be slacks and a button up.  Mo'better, add a tie.  Best but not totally necessary, wear a suit.  If your suit is ill fitting or makes you look like an extra from American Hustle, go for the slacks and button up.


Title: [Washington] Disabled and can't get to court at specified time.

Question: I'm a disabled individual living in a rural area in Washington. I have a court case for assault (which was me defending my partner) and it is scheduled for 8:00 in the morning in a few weeks. My issue with this is my earliest bus doesn't run until 7:45 and wouldn't get me into town until 8:30 so I would miss the appropriate time. When I mentioned this to the judge, he told me that I "better find a way to get to court, then" which is impossible for me. I live by myself, everyone that I know uses buses for transportation, and I have zero spare cash to throw someone for gas money. What do I do in this situation? I can make it that day at a later time, but the judge was adamant that if I asked for a different time that I would be held in contempt and thrown in jail until my court date and I wouldn't have to worry about it anyway.

Answer: There are some nonprofit organizations that can offer nonemergency transportation to the disabled and sick. Do some research on what is offered in your local area. But aside from that, the others are right – the courts operate on their own schedule (and there is no guarantee the free services will be available at that time or be able to schedule in time).  This is about you avoiding serious legal repercussions, you can find something to pawn for a few bucks, no matter how indigent.Answer #2: I have the solution! Don't show up for court. Later, the sheriff will give you a free ride. Answer #3: I'm sorry you're in this position, but you need to make it to your appointed time. Go the night before and stay on the street if you have to.


Title: Neglected dog, want to "steal" (Ontario)

Question:
There's a dog in my neighbourbood who is left outside for EXTENDED periods of time in excessive weather and is far too skinny for its breed.
My roommate filed a formal complaint previously, but all that was done was a shelter put in the backyard.
I'm tempted to take the dog and rehome him where he will be cared for properly. What would happen to me if I was caught?

Answer: That would be "illegal" and you could get "arrested" and go to "jail." Call Animal Control.


Title: Middle of divorce and my brother got terminal cancer

Question:
Texas: One judge granted him the divorce and gave her half of his retirement. She has come back to the table and wanted to start all over again. This time she wants the home. Would give her 35k in equity. She was out of work for 5 years, but is back working. Her sister gave her a home mtg free and my brother is paying child support. 40 K in lawyers fees and I was wondering what is my brothers chance of settling? Can she hold out till he is expected to pass away and take the home? She has unlimited funds from her sis for divorce. My brother does not.

Can she hold out and take the home and the rest of his retirement? She has been awarded 300k so far. looking for potential pitfalls.

Answer: Is the divorce final or not? Your title seems different than your post. In most jurisdictions, once the divorce is final, then the property division is, too, unless for some unusual reason, property division was held in abeyance or bi-furcated from the divorce.


Title: (Chicago) Uncle has a Humans Right violation complaint filed against him by a disabled person who makes it a mission to sue people for discriminating him because he's handicapped. Anyone been in this situation before?

Question:
Uncle runs a shop in Chicago, and the front of the building has stone steps (it is in an older, cultural part of Chicago so architecture can be a bit outdated).

Uncle says that his disabled man shows up with a Friend, and waits outside while Friend goes into the shop to ask a few questions about merchandise. Friend goes back outside, and then comes back and requests that my uncle go to the door. Uncle does, and the disabled man asks if there is an accessible entrance or a ramp, and then asks my uncle to help him up the stairs. Uncle has back problems, so he says that he cannot, so the disabled man starts complaining about discrimination. In the complaint, disabled man claims that uncle refused to even go across the street to a parking garage to get help for him (uncle was the only one in the shop, so I don't see any reason why he should leave his shop unattended when Friend could have done that).

The complaint filed by the disabled man, which funnily enough even cites a section of the Municipal Code, and the language is clearly amateur legalese, claims that Friend had gone inside to ask about an accessible; uncle maintains that Friend only asked about merchandise. It's his word against theirs at this moment; but apparently this disabled man is known to cause trouble in a few neighborhoods doing this exact same thing. I have already put in a FOIA request for all complaints the disabled man has filed just so we have something to go on. My uncle has to file a response by 2/18--what else can we do in the meantime?

EDIT: so I'm looking at the past rulings that has been published by the Board of Human Relations, and this disabled man has 3 hearings records decided in 2014, 3 in 2011, 6 in 2009, and 1 in 2008. The site doesn't have anything prior to 2007 and it doesn't include the total complaints he's filed since I'm sure some never made it to a hearing. This is insane.

Answer:
 IANAL.

That being said, I'm pretty sure I've read in this sub in the past regarding the issue of whether becoming ADA compliant would create an undue financial hardship on the business.  Search the sub.  It might help, it might not.

Also, if it's an older Chicago building there may be Landmark Status issues.Answer #2: Not every commercial establishment is required to be ADA-compliant; not every commercial lease puts the onus on ADA compliance on the tenant; and ADA Trolls are absolutely a real phenomenon.  Answer #3: You should also check the electronic docket of the cook county clerk of court for the guy's name.


Title: [OH] Cop made a police report about me. No laws were broken and no charges filed; can I get the police report sealed and/or expunged?

Question: I understand the police report is public record as of right now. What are my options for taking it off the public record?

Answer:
 I've never heard of sealing/expunging a police report that isn't associated with an arrest/conviction.

The report just shows there was an investigation and the results of that investigation.

I'd talk to the police department records division to see if they have a retention policy or if they have a policy regarding a situation like this.  But I wouldn't imagine there would be.