Title: Former stepfather wants to declare mistrial on the terms of divorce between him and my mom that was finalized 2 years ago. He claims that he "found" new evidence he can use to take away my mom's and siblings home. [California]

Question:
So two years ago my stepfather and mother's divorce was finalized and because they purchased two houses during that marriage he received one house and she received the other. We live in California, USA.

About a week ago he called his my sister, asking to speak to my mom to which my mom reluctantly agreed to. He asked if she was going to lose the house because he received some papers from the bank stating this. She told him no and that she can send him papers so he's taken off the loan paperwork even though he hasn't made any house or loan payments for the past six years.

Instead of leaving it at that he said he's taking her to court because apparently he found a prenup that she signed stating she never wanted anything if they were to ever divorce. She doesn't remember signing one and she never would have in the first place. He is the type of person who would forge signatures and my mom is extremely concerned about this.

He is claiming that his lawyer wouldn't allow him to use this paper in the divorce proceedings and that he's going to use it now to  declare mistrial and take the house away from her and his children. My mom can't afford a lawyer but she is going to receive a free consultation on Monday.

My question is does he have a leg to stand on in court and what can my mom do to best represent herself in court. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

TL;DR:
My mom's ex-husband is claiming he found a prenup my mom signed saying she wouldn't want anything in a divorce. They divorced two years ago and he's trying to claim mistrial so he can take away her house. We live in California, USA.

Answer:
 That's not how it works.

If your mom is served with papers she will need an attorney, but she shouldn't have anything to worry aboit


Title: (UT) Employer Intimidation

Question:
I work as a armed security guard. I was armed down as was my supervisor who was in the room with me.  My employer and another manager walked into the room that my supervisor and I were in, closed the door and stood in front of it.  It was the only exit.  He told me that I would no longer be on the schedule due to a contract that he thought I had not fulfilled. I asked some follow up questions which were followed by him yelling and cursing at me.  He and the manager were armed with firearms at the time.  During the course of his frantic yelling and cursing I put my hands up and told him I felt intimidated and would like another manager present.  He told me that 'he is done playing these fucking games' and continued to berate me while blocking the only exit.  He never gave me the chance to leave and I really did feel threatened as did my supervisor who was in the room with me.  My supervisor can give the same account that he felt threatened also.  My supervisor is 6'7 300lbs and he felt threatened by our employer.

I'm not one to play the victim and am always willing to take responsibility for my actions, but I honestly don't know what to do.  Should I let it go? I have never seen someone fly off the handle like that and would hate it to happen to another employee.

Answer: You can report it to the police if you want. But it sounds like you got fired so file for unemployment and look for a new job,


Title: Wildlife on vacation rental property

Question:
I'm a call center agent for a realty co. that does beach rentals.

Got a call from a renter that there were snakes on the property and they were frightening to her. She said the rental must have mice that were attracting the snakes. I took a message and sent it to the realty company.

A week later, I so happen to be the one to get a call from her again. She has been working with the realty "guest relations" and wants a call back.

Honestly, does the landlord or rental agency have any responsibility here? Are they supposed to have control wildlife that may wander into the yard? The lady was not injured by the snakes.

Answer: If it’s by the beach, it’s convenient for her to pound sand


Title: Nightclub Floor Piss....

Question:
Yeh, you read it right.

So, Factor 1
we're Australian.
Let's just get that out of the way right now.

Point is, a mate of ours has just returned from a tour in Afghanistan.
Naturally, as he's going back in a couple of weeks, we caught up and hit the piss...it was fucking great to see him well.

Skip much of the evening and BANG.

We're in a local hotel which has a 'night club' upstairs...
This 'night club' runs on a Sunday night (for uni students)..however it also promises $4 basics.

For those not in the know, in Australia cigarettes and alcohol are HEAVILY taxed, so the idea of cheap drinks is alluring to all.

etc etc etc

----------
Continued
----------
The bathrooms were so heavily soaked in urine, that the entire 'club' floor was now soaked in spilled drinks and urine.

[This is not a joke.](http://imgur.com/a/WejjD)

There was urine, vomit and spilled drinks all over a smooth concrete floor, like you see above, from the very front to the back of the club.

I'm sure you know the type, it's such smooth concrete it's shiny and cold....yeeehhhh...now you get it.

now imagine that surface soaked in vomit, piss, and alcohol....yes...here we go...

and now, cover that surface in drunk teenagers!

Good, now we're on the same page.

Also, there were a lot of people's faces on that floor.
Thing is, if you fell over, you got kicked out for being 'too drunk'

I've worked in warehouses, I have my WHSC (Workplace health and safety certificate)...and this was clearly a hazard that was being not only ignored for employees, but patrons, of which there were many...who are young kids(18+ legal age in Aus) and intoxicated.

------------------------------
The Fuckup:
I noticed this somehow...(must've been when the teenage girl slipped over in a sea of piss and banged her head on the concrete, and was then kicked out for 'being drunk')

So I 'investigated' the bathrooms, and to do so I rolled up the bottom of my jeans before walking close to / into the bathroom and back down as I was leaving.

I also visibly took note of where the 'fluids' began and how far and upon what surfaces they were freely flowing.

Management noticed this, and asked me to leave as I was paying the bar for our next round of drinks.

I was not intoxicated.

*(oh bullshit)*

No, I work in a bar myself, whilst I *had* consumed drinks, I was not intoxicated.

I was on my way to intoxicated...oh yes...but I had by no means reached that destination.
Certainly no one who is intoxicated makes sure to roll their jeans up before entering a piss soaked men's room full of teenagers because "it's the decent thing to do and this is a poor standard"...so reflect upon that before making that judgement. <3

Regardless, a security guard approached me at the bar, I could see a furious, skinny, bald, angry man behind him practically vibrating with rage....it was at this point the security guard informed me I'd had too much to drink in my 2 hours there and needed to leave the premises immediately.

I gave him a knowing look, and he shrugged/sighed (it was kind of both in one) and said "I know, I know, my manager tells me what to do and I do it."

Of course, working in hospitality I can completely understand the circumstances.

I ask him if he will escort me to my friends, so I can inform them that I'm being removed from the premises before he walks me out, and he says "of course man, sorry"

*I feel so bad for this guy now, he knows exactly what's happening and he hates it*

"it's cool man, this isn't great for anyone so let's just get this over with" I say....

Translation: "yeh she's sweet mate, shit sucks but you gotta do it and I'm not about to make that shit difficult for ya, let's tell my mates I gotta bail and you can escort me there and then walk me out...no mess and no fuss...everyone 'wins', yeh?"

I cannot accurately describe the facial expression that he made...however it communicated that we were both in a situation we didn't want to be in, managers sucked, and he knew why one of the only 'adults' who'd taken issue to the obvious hazard of under-dressed and intoxicated teenagers injuring themselves and trying to move let alone dance on shiny concrete with a side order of filthy floor piss was now being removed from the premises.

------
TL;DR;
------------

So here's the deal.
As a 30+ year old I ended up in a student bar because it was the only thing open on a Sunday night that wasn't the fucking casino...

The floor in this place was covered in urine and spilled drinks, and anyone who slipped on the shiny concrete surface soaked in fucking bodily fluids was ejected for 'intoxication' regardless of the validity of their claim.

As an 'adult' and a member of the Australian workforce required to have a WHS cert, the fact they were exposing patrons and employees to this obvious and preventable hazard was appalling on it's own.

The fact they were ejecting members of the public who fell victim to these poor standards was infuriating.

The fact they ejected me for bringing attention to the issue....

Well, I'm not sure...I don't have words for that level of disappointment yet.

Guys, this seems really dodgy, someone is going to get hurt and they can't treat these kids like they don't deserve a safe environment to blow off some steam.

Who do I report this to?

Management booted me out for bringing it up after I watched a teenage girl bludgen her fucking head on the concrete because she slipped in the urine that was all over the fucking floor...Surely there's someone who cares?

**[We're talking safety and standards here...kids were dancing in this same urine, it was walked through the entire place!](http://imgur.com/a/WejjD)**

Answer: Try /r/AusLegal  - when you do, don't write a novel. Nobody cares about the prices of drinks or where your buddy was coming from.


Title: I have a business idea for a kind of bar in Miami Beach. Who can I speak to, or where can I go to learn about what it is I can and cannot do?

Question:
I'm hesitant to give any further detail about what I'm planning as I'd like to keep that confidential. PM me if you need any information. But I'm looking for a good source of legal guidance that will either confirm or dismiss my business venture. Thanks in advance!

edit: thanks to you guys, I now know I need to lawyer up.

Answer:
 If you want private advice, you'll need to hire your own lawyer.

Your lawyer will be professionally bound to keep your discussions confidential and to act in your interests while you employ them.


Title: [NY] How do I recover money I loaned to someone who committed suicide?

Question:
Last year I loaned about 1000 dollars to a friend who was in a bad spot, having to move out from her abusive boyfriend's place. We signed a contract and she agreed to repay the amount in 10 x $100 monthly installments starting in July 2019. She committed suicide last month.

Now that things have settled down, I'm wondering if there's any way I could get my money. She had no assets as far as I know (and was in student debt too) and she's estranged from her parents. At the very least, could I write this off on my tax return?

Answer:
 If she died with no assets, you likely can't get the money back. Speak to her executor (and be prepared for some highly emotional responses  to your inquiry if it's a close family member) and put a claim in against her estate, but odds are it'll not be paid out.

If you choose to forgive the debt, see IRS form 1099-C.


Title: [NY] Roommate changed locks before I moved all of my things out.

Question: I gave my abusive roommates an intent to vacate at the beginning of this month. I stated that I will be leaving September 30th, and my roommates just changed the locks and said that I have to let them know when I’m arriving to move my things. Is this illegal?

Answer: If you're still paying rent and have a lease, you still should have access to your apartment


Title: (NY) Hypothetical home defense question

Question:
So let's say someone's breaks into your house. They are making verbal threats towards an guest or resident in the house that he intends to murder them. You are armed and have a clean shot. Let's say you don't take the shot in fear for legal repercussions, and the criminal kills the guest/resident.

Could you face criminal charges for not shooting the intruder.

Answer: No.


Title: End of year prom cancelled and money donated without us agreeing to it.

Question:
So there was going to be an end of year prom for our school and most people in my year payed close to £50 for tickets. Due to the Corona virus it has been cancelled and the organisers have said there will be no refunds and the money will be donated to the school. Is this legal? We didn't agree to donate the money.
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer:
 Somebody is pocketing that money guaranteed. I'd make a big stink about it.Answer #2: Almost certainly this is not legal and there is fuckery going on.

I am not from the UK so

That said - your remedy will be limited to either (the equivalent of) small claims (depending on how petty/bored you are) or the more realistic escalation within the school system to the board or superintendent.

Also there is a r/LegalAdviceUKAnswer #3: We need more information:

1) Who Organized it? Was it the school? Parents? Student Union?

2) Were deposits placed on venues, food, etc that commit money regardless (ie only partial refund available)?

3) What does "Donated to the school? mean?


Title: Suicidal Ex/Joint Custody [M21] [F22] Is it illegal for me to fly my daughter to my parents so they can care for her since I cannot trust my ex girlfriend who lives with me but is the “primary” care giver.

Question:
Good Day,

My ex Girlfriend (will give her the name Jodie because I’m in the military) and daughter moved in with me a month and a half ago, [BACKGROUND] our daughter is 4 months old, Jodie has lived with my family for about a 8-9 months, they recently kicked her out because she was being disrespectful/always laid in bed on her phone, wouldn’t take initiative to do things, no job, no drivers license, my family would take care of our daughter because she would be outside swinging on a swing until ungodly hours of the night or go on random night walks throughout the town for hours at night. I took 3 weeks of secondary caregiver leave about 2 months ago because she wanted to pack up shop in TX go to her home in VA and cut me out of their lives completely and initially filed for sole custody but then changed it to joint because I wanted to give her the opportunity to be a parent right and was tired of her saying that I didn’t have the same rights as her because I’m the father, just a “sperm donor” so I’d have something on paper. Well now they live with me again, throughout our relationship she’s joked about how she wants to kill herself. SO now they live with me, my work schedule varies, sometimes it’s 0745-1400, others 0745-0845, 0745 to the following days 14-1800 it varies, come home and either nothing’s done, she’s slept all day and didn’t have time to do dishes and pushes our daughter into me because she’s “tired” of caring for her” while she continues to play my Xbox so she can get some “me time” when all I’ve been doing is working/taking care of her because she has no income. So 3 weeks ago she’d woken up from a nap around 7pm and overheard talking to my family and thought I was talking shit about her parenting skills when that wasn’t the case, so she got dressed and stormed outside not telling me where she was going, we live in Michigan now. It was 30 degrees outside, she weighs 100lbs and her body practically shuts down in the cold. She’s gone for 3 hours, I’m caring for our daughter, I found her at a gas station curled in a ball, she fell asleep with me on the phone while I was looking for her. Got her some pizza, whatever, 30 minutes later she noticed I had it where she couldn’t see my snapchat story and flipped, saying how she was done with me, wanted to kill herself, how she’d do it here in Michigan with me and or have me fly her home so she could kill herself there then belittled me until 4am, didn’t help take care of our daughter at all during that time. Didn’t help that our daughter couldn’t sleep that night either. So, I let my supervisor know what was going on and he followed suit, we had a meeting and the cops came and checked on her 2 hours later. And she claimed everything was fine. Fast forward 3 weeks, (last Friday) I came home at 5:00 and was taking care of our daughter, Jodie went to take a shower at 7:30pm which was early but she said she wanted to relax so I didn’t pay any mind to it, I’m watching blue planet with our daughter and cooking. Later on suddenly it’s now 10:00, it’s not unheard of her to take that long but it’s a little ridiculous to have the water running that long, I went to check on her, door is locked, I peeked under the door and saw her lying there. Mangled a hanger, unlocked the door and saw a bottle of ibuprofen open to an unconscious Jodie on the floor; should’ve called the cops because I didn’t know how much she’d taken, she was still responding to me but groggily. She tried giving me reassurance that she’d done this before with Zoloft and she was already getting better by the time things had settled and it was already 1am and I felt calling was useless. [Looking back at it I should’ve immediately, I felt I would’ve gotten in trouble for some reason] ANYHOW I was supposed to be deployed for a month but due to this I’m not going to be since now I can’t trust Jodie with my daughter and talking to the attorney I used to file joint with I’m liable if anything were to happen to my daughter since I know that her mom is suicidal, is it Illegal for me to fly with my daughter and go to my parents house/come back without my daughter since we have joint custody? I want her gone and I want my daughter to be safe but I’m not trying to get my parents arrested or me arrested for kidnapping. The attorney said we both have the “same rights” to our child whereas the mom insists she has more right than I do because “I’m just a sperm donor” There’s geographical restrictions on her mom in Texas but since they’re with me it doesn’t really matter, I’m going to be filing for sole custody at this point as well.

Answer:
 If you do not petition the court to have her parental rights terminated or limited, then you risk custodial interference charges by sending your daughter out of state like that.

That would be my first move in this case.


Title: Preference given to "underrepresented groups in academia" for a post-doc position...

Question:
I am in the process of applying to academic positions (tenure-track faculty and post-doctoral fellowships) and one recent post-doc job announcement struck me as particularly glaring in its statement that they want to hire individuals from "underrepresented groups in academia".

The ad specifically states "The Selection Committee will give special consideration to applicants who are from ethnic groups currently underrepresented in the academic field of *redacted*. We will not make awards solely on this basis, however, and all applicants will be evaluated on their own merits"

The fact that they admit that they are using ethnicity as a partial deciding factor seems particularly damning...

Answer: How is this different than any other Affirmative Action?


Title: (Jasper co. TX) Can my grandfather get his power of attorney back?

Question:
A bit if a story, so sit back, crack open a beverage of your choice, and please help if you can.

Ten years ago my grandfather was misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's. At the time, my grandmother threatened to divorce him, but agreed not to so long as he gave her power of attorney and put all of his possessions with the exception of his guns in her name. My grandfather has since then been re-diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury which occurred during his service in Vietnam as well as various other incidents, including his time as a football player and an amateur boxer.

Now, my grandmother has elected to kick him out of the house. He's purchased a mobile home with the assistance of my father, and is currently living in it with his firearms and is getting a dog. Unfortunately, my grandmother still has power of attorney and won't let him have access to his bank accounts which include his rather large pension, his retirement money from the Marines, as well as money he is receiving for an injury that happened while he was in the corps. Is it possible for him to get power of attorney back and regain control of his probably pilfered finances?

Thanks so much in advance.

EDIT: I'm sorry, I'm definitely, most certainly not a lawyer, so I was confused by the terminology. My grandfather grant POA to my grandmother, but also signed over his bank accounts, and the house. This included the lump sum he took out of his pension plan as stated earlier in the post. Is it possible for him to get these back?

Answer:
 Your terms may be mixed up.

"Power of Attorney" is paperwork that lets other people do legal things as if they were you.

So your grandma can sign paperwork for your grandpa if she needs to.

But it doesn't take anything away from the other person.  Grandma can act on Grandpa's behalf,  but Grandpa can still do stuff himself too.

Now, if he was declared incompetent by the courts, and Grandma is his guardian, that's a different story- then he can't act for himself and only Grandma can.


Title: What could happen if you are caught with an automatic knife?

Question:
I live in Florida and usually carry a knife everyday usually for work but I would like to get an automatic knife, while I know they aren’t allowed I would still like to carry one. What would be the worst consequence for this
Topic:
Consumer Law

Answer: Prison for a felony weapons violation?


Title: Moved to CA from Texas, sold Texas registered Jeep, now buyer sueing me because it doesn't pass smog.

Question:
Like the title says, sold Texas registered Jeep, in California, buyer sueing me for it not passing smog. I had no idea.

What are my options?

Answer: You can take the car back and refund his money or you're at risk of a lawsuit. You can't sell a used vehicle in CA without a smog cert (with some exceptions). Not knowing isn't a defense.


Title: Hey guys, first post here but i was falsely accused of being drunk at a party and thrown out for nothing

Question:
So i went to my friend's graduation party and since my friend was underaged, she had to take a breathalyzer to make sure she hadn't drunk anything before entering. While i was there i had literally 2 shots of sours. Not even enough to get slightly buzzed. Then after a while, a security guard came up to me and asked me to come along with him, to leave. I asked him "why?" and he said "because you're too drunk". 4 of my friends and i were extremely confused and said something along the lines of "Excuse me? He's not drunk at all. At least let him take a breathalyzer and prove it.", which he completely ignored, almost acting as if they didn't have one and said "All right, i'll have my coworker take a look at you ''''''to be fair'''''' ". I stood in front of him completely balanced and straight and he glanced at me and of course he blindly backed up his friend and said "Yep, you're drunk". It ended up so that they kicked me out without doing any legitimate testing whatsoever, not even a line walk, and two friends left with me.

&#x200B;

This was a month or two ago and now my girlfriend's graduation party is coming up at the same exact place. What can i do to make sure i don't get falsely accused like that again other than not coming to the party? Is there anything i can do if i get falsely accused?

Answer: I really don’t think this is a legal issue...


Title: (Cali) My daughters school has a new bathroom policy that resulted in her getting a kidney infection.

Question:
My daughters elementary school has a new rule(started about a month and half ago) children are NOT allowed to use the bathroom during lunch or recess, they may only use it during class and only if the teacher allows it.

Long short, the teacher didn't allow her to use the bathroom at school at all since the policy was instated. Last week I heard her crying in the bathroom so I went to check on her. She said that it hurts when she pees and her back hurts, my husband and I took her to the pediatrician that morning. She had a UTI that had already turned into a kidney infection(the doctor thinks that she had the UTI for a week, our daughter was too scared to tell us). She ended up in the hospital for the weekend. Our insurance didn't cover all of it.

Can we sue the school or at least the teacher who repeatedly denied her access to the bathroom for the remaining cost of the hospital bill?

Answer:
 Yeah, so after perusing the trickle of followup information in this post, the mods have decided that it is almost certainly a troll post and is therefore being removed and locked.

OP, if you want to message the mods with some sort of proof that your assertions are real (letter from the school outlining the bathroom policy, redacted hospital report, etc), we'll restore it and unlock it, but until that happens, this is going to be shut down. It has all the hallmarks of trolling. Answer #2: Please keep us updated!Answer #3: Don't know about anyone else - but I'm gonna tell my kids that needing to use a bathroom isn't something that requires permission. You can ask for permission out of respect and politeness, but ultimately you go if you have to go and accept the consequences.

The consequences of going will never be worse than the consequences of not going...Answer #4: What kind of school doesn't allow children to use the bathroom at lunch/recess? That is the time when kids should be allowed to use the bathroom.


Title: [NV] Being put under for root canal. Dental assistants said I may not be able to get treatment unless someone is there with me.

Question:
I have to get two root canals, a bunch of fillings, a cleaning and a bleaching done.  The dentist said I can be put under for it as it could take 2-3 hours to finish and that it might be really difficult to be awake for the whole time.

While talking to one of the dental people there (not a dentist though) she said I might not be able to get put under unless there's someone there who can drive me home and watch out for me when I get home.  She says it's a liability because I might go online and buy a bunch of stuff or go for a walk or whatever.

I've been put under before for dental work when I had my wisdom teeth when I was younger.  My mother drove me to the dentist and back.  I remember I was a bit groggy but was fully aware of everything and able to get to the car and then walk to my bedroom after I got home.  I spent the rest of the day sleeping in bed.

I don't see why I can't get put under and then have a taxi take me home.  Can the dentist refuse to treat me if I show up on alone?

Answer:
 The drugs involved in even twilight anaesthesia do not fuck around.

If you tried to drive yourself home with a system full of some mix of ketamine (possibly), propofol (almost certainly), fentanyl (likely), nitrous oxide (actually the least risky of the lot), and a benzodiazepine like lorazepam or midazolam (likely), you are putting yourself and others in danger. You're not groggy: you're _seriously_ impaired. The dentist is, in part, responsible for making sure you don't do that while you're high as a kite.

People lie about how well they tolerate drugs _constantly_. Your dentist has no idea whether you'll be groggy but basically alright to call a cab afterwards, or whether you'll be a sobbing, pukey mess. Unlike a hospital, most dental offices have no recovery ward for you to spend a few hours in, and no nurses on staff to make sure you don't aspirate your own vomit and die if you _do_ react badly. Having a buddy there is as much for their protection as yours.

Call a friend. Have them drive you home and trip sit for you. Buy them lunch after. It's the right thing to do.Answer #2: >Can the dentist refuse to treat me if I show up on alone?

Sure, because you're not able to prove who is driving you home before the procedure. They're not going to perform the procedure, only to find out you lied and never intended on getting a taxi.


Title: Kansas City, MO - About 72 hours to help my friend draft a will.

Question:
Yes, I know this isn't ideal. My very dear friend has just been diagnosed with aggressively terminal cancer, and he's got maybe a few days left before he'll either be dead or doped-up enough that he won't be able to make legal decisions. I had no idea he'd been walking around without a will, or I would have made him get one long ago. Now that the clock is ticking, what's my best option for making sure his things are taken care of?

There is an ex-wife, three children, and a granddaughter to be considered. I believe if it's possible he would like the majority of what he owns to be placed in trust for his granddaughter and her mother, the youngest child. Possessions include a fully paid house, a fully paid car, and maybe $10000- $20,000 worth of personal possessions. To be clear, I'm not after a dime. He's my friend, nothing more.

The ex wife isn't exactly Miss America, but I don't suspect she'll contest the will. Still, better to be safe than sorry.
Topic:
Wills Trusts and Estates

Answer: Before anything else is done, be SURE that the beneficiary information on any life insurance is what he wants it to be.  I've seen daughters left with nothing while horrible ex-wives got all the payout because the decedent did not update their insurance and were killed in a car crash.


Title: [Michigan] No identification

Question:
So I'm 18 and live in Michigan. Before going out I would like to understand any type of possible issues. So I don't have my license or any form of identification.

Say me and my friends are driving around, I wouldn't be driving I'd be in the passenger seat or something. And the car gets pulled over and the cop suspects we are under the influence, and asks for identification from the rest of the people in the car. What would happen if I didn't have an ID or anything on me?

I'm asking because recently this happened to some of my friends, I wasn't in the car but they got searched and hit with MIP's, and were let go. What would have happened if I didn't have an ID? What if I wasn't doing anything and just getting a ride home or something but still didn't have an ID? Just a question because I was curious, thanks for any advice.
Topic:
Alcohol Related Other than DUI

Answer: The police *may* take you into custody until your identity can be confirmed and then you would be released if you weren't being charged with a crime or had any outstanding warrants.  It would really be at the discretion of the officer. If everybody else in the car was a wanted criminal or had drugs on them then probably you would assume to be like those you choose to spend time with.


Title: No visitation allowed.

Question:
   Hi there I hope someone can give me some advice. My girlfriend is divorced from her ex-husband who lives in Hawaii with her daughters 12 + 14. He is not allowing them to come to Canada for a visit.
   She had custody while she lived in Hawaii and there was some abuse allegations and she was giving bad advice and did not retain custody when she moved to Canada. She is supposed to pay child support which she has not. But he was supposed to sell the house with about $200,000 in equity and he has not. He does not live in the house it is just sitting there abandoned. The realtor actually quit because of the intimidation tactics of him. We also cannot find out who holds the mortgage because it had been sold to someone else and we can't find any records.
 And he did not pay child support when she had the kids. The kids have not being here in a year-and-a-half,my girlfriend has paid for tickets that were not used.
Now I know she owes child support, and I'm working on her to at least start paying that she has spent tens of thousands flying back and forth to Hawaii to see her kids and bring them here for the first two years. What can we do about the house and the child support he owes? Her lawyer who she still owes money to actually went to another case during recess and did not come back for an hour and a half. And the abuse and the restraining order was never mentioned in court when my girlfriend was going after custody.
So what is our next step any advice?

Answer:
 If she doesn't like her lawyer, get another one, but have her follow the advice of a lawyer she trusts.

Quite frankly, they both sound like terrible deadbeats.  She is in arrears on child support, and hasn't paid her current lawyer. I feel sorry for the kids.


Title: are you actually legally required to show employees your receipt as you exit a store if they ask for it?

Question:
  So this is driving me completely nuts, because I feel like i see it all the time. But this one is inspired by a post i found here:

  https://old.reddit.com/r/TalesFromTheCustomer/comments/9tevlz/was_assaulted_for_not_showing_my_receipt/?st=joamjbea&sh=8b44ee56

  But i see stuff like this all over reddit, especially in retail based subs.

  So in this scenario:

  You're walking into a department store in the U.S. you buy your stuff, you leave. As you walk out the door, an employee asks for your receipt. but instead of just showing it to them, you tell them "You can't legally make me do that" and leave the store.

  So first of all, *can* the employee make you show your receipt?

  Does it make a difference if it's a department store, or a chain?

   If they want to do something like, call the police, do they need more then refusal to show the receipt as a reason to call them?

  Can they use physical force to stop you if they believe you've lifted the items? Or would that actually put the employee in the wrong.

  Is there some reason you don't want to show the employee your receipt legally? Besides that it's an inconvenience?

Answer:
 What you’re looking for is called [Shopkeeper’s Privilege](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopkeeper%27s_privilege).

In short, while you aren’t legally obligated to show your receipt to the shopkeeper, if he has reasonable grounds to suspect shoplifting he can use *reasonable* force to detain you until the police arrive. If it turns out you didn’t steal anything, the shopkeeper may be liable for false arrest. Alternatively, however, if you fight him off in an attempt to resist his detention, you may be liable for assault.Answer #2: >So first of all, can the employee make you show your receipt?

In most cases the answer is no. An exception exists where showing the receipt upon exiting the premises is a condition of service. Many membership-only stores such as Costco set this out in their membership contract.

>Does it make a difference if it's a department store, or a chain?

No.

>If they want to do something like, call the police, do they need more then refusal to show the receipt as a reason to call them?

Yes. The police don't get involved in contractual matters. They enforce the criminal law, which usually means responding to accusations of theft. What a specific law enforcement agency requires to lay a charge of theft varies, but refusing to show a receipt falls below this level.

>Can they use physical force to stop you if they believe you've lifted the items? Or would that actually put the employee in the wrong.

Shopkeeper privilege and various statutes permit storeowners and managers to use reasonable force when they believe that someone is committing an act of theft. However, that believe must be reasonable, and therefore must be objectively supported. Mere suspicion is often not enough.


Title: Food stamps just gave me a bill after my mother just passed and i dont know what to do

Question: Forgive me this is my first time using Reddit and I'm not good at spelling, so recently m mother just passed away and she had food stamps, I don't know how it works but I guess how many kids she had influenced the money on her food stamps card, before she passed she told me they were charging her 1200 in bills because she didn't tell them I moved out, i moved out about 3 months before she passed, she told me that she was looking into but when she passed its was still going on and the people who knew about this were more focused on the funeral and the readjustment s that go with it, 2 months later I just got the bill today i don't know what to do can i fight it, can i make monthly payments, what can i do, im sorry if this doesn't belong here i new to this site. i live in florida by the way if that helps, thank you for any help you can give

Answer:
 You are not personally responsible for your mother's debts.Answer #2: Look at the bill you received, does it say that your mother owes the money, or that you do? A good idea is to make an appointment to sit down with a caseworker, discuss the situation, and see how they determined what is owed and who owes it.

If this debt is owed by your mother, her estate will settle it. If she didn't have any money/assets when she passed, the debt will simply be uncollectible.

This debt may be owed by you though. If you were an adult and part of her SNAP household, you probably signed documents stating that you lived with her and how much income/assets you had. You may have also had a responsibility to notify them when you moved out. Go to the caseworker, get the details. If you disagree, you can file an appeal.


Title: Police used entrapment to get minor to sell drugs

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 That's not entrapment. They didn't make her commit a crime. She did so voluntarily. Answer #2: That's not entrapment. She could've simply not agreed to buy marijuana. They did not force her to do something she was no otherwise going to do.Answer #3: That’s not entrapment.

A police officer (or undercover agent) is fully able to ask you if you have drugs, and are willing to sell it to them. If you have drugs, and try to sell it to them, that’s not entrapment.

Entrapment is when he pulls a random girl off the street and pulls a gun on them and says “take this package to John, or I kill your family” and then arrests you for having the package they gave you.

If they give you the opportunity to commit a crime and you do it of your own free will, that’s not entrapment, even if you may not have otherwise done it. They need to do something so coercive that it would overcome the rational judgement of any law abiding person.


Title: Accidentally ran someone over, was told they weren't going to file an insurance claim but my agent just called me. How fucked am I? (GA)

Question:
This all happened on Friday. The accident occurred at 10PM almost 11PM. It was at a 4 way intersection. I was taking a right turn (there was no yield sign) my light was green I had my head turned and was looking for cars and decided to take the right. As soon as I did when I turned my head (looking for cars) all I see is a man on the hood of the car. I jumped out immoderately and asked if I could drive him to the hospital. Guy didn't want police involved but a petrol car was at a gas station and saw the whole thing. I was not issued a ticket. I gave the officer my license and insurance info. When I talked to the guy I offered to take him to the hospital etc. He kept saying he was okay and that he wasn't going to file any claim etc.

I know what I did was very wrong and my guilt is killing me. But I genuinely did not mean to run him over. It was dark and night time. I was only looking for cars and not pedestrians.

Can my insurance drop me? (I have GEICO) this is my first kind of accident. I am freaking out. Will I get sued? Will my insurance cover everything? (i have full coverage) I am freaking out.

Answer:
 > Can my insurance drop me?

Yes.

> Will I get sued? Will my insurance cover everything?

Can't answer either of those.


Title: Collision With Car While In Biking Lane

Question:
Was trying to bike to campus on a busy road about a week ago. The road I was on is under heavy construction, the biking lane sucks as is, and is constantly backed up during my morning commute. Was pedaling away when I see a car make a left across my path into a side street. (Think those times that traffic is at a stand still, but a space is left for cars to get through because why not) I cannot see the rest of the lane through the traffic and I think, "Okay they are letting one go and it should be clear now." I had hovered my hand over the brakes, but returned to a riding position to continued on. About 5 meters from the opening another car starts to slide through and we collide.

I somehow got off my bike and stayed standing while rolling of the side of his car, no idea how, but now there was two dents in each passenger side door and my left handle bar bent to hell. I was fine, think young and made of rubber and magic, but a bit shaken up. We each took pictures of each others license and I gave him my contact information before riding on to class which was starting in thirty minutes.

Now I am looking at a $600 bill for repairs on his doors that I do not want to have. (Who would?) I initially thought it was my fault, but I do not know thoroughly how right-of-way and laws apply to cyclist. I figure this is something that wouldn't hurt to ask others who know far more than I. Thoughts? (This occurred in Florida)

Answer: Generally traffic laws apply equally to cyclists and drivers (drive/bike on the right side of the road/stop for red lights etc.). If the second driver cut you off, meaning you had the right of way, by pulling into your lane, the driver is at fault. This [site](http://gccfla.org/laws.html) seems to give a good overview of the law.


Title: Can I Press Charges Against Walmart Or Succeed In A Regulatory Complaint

Question:
So a situation happened, one I never thought would happen at a business like Walmart.  I went there to purchase a $800 money order to make a very important time sensitive payment.  The employee misspelled the payee on the receipt after he told me that it was important I name the payee entity correctly.  As a result of this, I decided not to take the risk with the money order and made alternative arrangements for payment.

I returned to the store one week later, and explained I wanted to return the money order to my debit card account.  The employee said OK, then took the money order, voided it, and tried to force me to take cash.  I refused, to which they claimed the policy was that they only give cash for refunds on money orders.  I explained to both them and management that I couldn't accept cash for several reasons.

After manager upon manager claimed this was policy, I explained to them  that I would be leaving the store, and they would have an obligation, since they had the money from my account, the money order, and the cash; to return it to me.

I spoke with 4 people at Walmart's customer service, all of which seemed surprised at the claim of cash only refunds.  Many of them mentioning the obvious security reasons for not wanting large amounts of cash.  However, one by one, they all came around and said things to the effect of "we back our stores here", "the store actually is the one who sets policy" "the store actually makes all decisions, and Walmart corporate never is involved in review" -- bogus.  I tried to explain to the people that at this point, being that I have left the store, the most secure way to pay me what they owe was to refund to the debit card that was used for purchase, or agree not to challenge a chargeback request, being they have my cash already.  They had nothing good to say about this, claiming that the remedy was that anyone bearing my resemblance and a (possibly fake) ID drive all the way back to the (non-local to me) store for cash.

I am amazed Walmart has gone so far out of its way here to engender badwill amongst its customers, seemingly just to defend a manager's ego.  I am also surprised about the "we back our stores claim"  - I thought I was calling a customer service resolution center and not a customer fan talk line.  I also fear that perhaps they will retaliate against me by writing some lie in a security report, and logging my face into their abusive facial recognition system for retaliatory acts.

I now have several questions:

\- If Walmart continues to hold onto the cash, and demand that the only remedy is I suffer the hardship of returning to the store for a cash refund, could this amount to theft?

\- Assuming Walmart has obligations with regard to unclaimed property here, has Walmart satisfied its responsibilities by turning it over to the State when it had means available (such as allowing a reversal or refunding to my debit card) to pay me back, but didn't?

\- Are there any rules, such as money transmitter regulations, that Walmart would have to follow here, that it may have breached?

\- Are there rules of Visa here, that Walmart could be in breach of?

Answer: You're making a mountain out of a mole hill. They already offered you reasonable resolve, and you turned it down trying to push liability on to them. What is your endgame here?


Title: brinks won't cancel my grandma's service even though she doesn't use their services anymore.

Question:
I don't know if this is the right place to post but here we go.

&#x200B;

My grandma had Brinks security system for her house at one point. She hasn't had the system for over 8 years, yet they still charge her a $50 service fee every month. I manage her finances now and noticed the charge. When I called to try to cancel it, they said I had to show power of attorney paperwork to do so. I have the paperwork since my grandma was declared incompetent and lives in a nursing home, but I feel like they should just recognize that she hasn't had the security system for years and stop charges.

Do I have to send it to them or are they just trying to delay turning off the service by giving me the run around?

Answer:
 What happened to the system that she hasn't had it for years, but keeps getting charged?

Generally, you do need to show that you have the proper authority to cancel someone else's accounts.  Especially a security company, who has a good reason to make sure that you're not a criminal, scammer, or other shady person.


Title: Can I Legally Have My Body Left In A Field?

Question:
As weird as this sounds, stay with me.

I don’t plan to die anytime soon, however, this thought came to my mind and I really want to do this.

So essentially, if I own a plot of land away from people, can I legally have my body left in a chair, in the plot, outside, and just let my body return to the earth?

I assume the plot of land cant be near homes and all that or just in public, but if its a private plot of land, is this possible?

Im 100% serious, feel free to asks for specifcs.

Im in the United States, and have no problem needing to move my body, but currently in New Jersey.

Answer:
 Every jurisdiction has laws regarding the handling and disposal of bodies. The closest you might come is donating your body to a body farm for research purposes.Answer #2: You can try to get your body donated to a body farm, [like UT's](https://fac.utk.edu/body-donation/), but there's no guarantee it'll be accepted, and no guarantees they won't donate parts of it to other programs. It's pretty popular, and their capacity is pretty small, so there's a bit of chance involved. Most of them also recover your skeleton, and use it for research purposes.

You can look for [green burial](https://shepherdexpress.com/news/features/back-to-the-earth-with-green-burials/) options. These can be coupled with [special suits](https://www.sciencealert.com/this-mushroom-suit-digests-your-body-after-you-die) that can be placed upon the body to accelerate its degredation.Answer #3: If you look up a "sky burial" it is similar.  Mongolia has very rocky terrain so it is customary to let the vultures consume the body.  Washington state has something similar to what you are looking for.


Title: Is forcing a biological father to "pay per visit" a future problem in the making?

Question:
I am asking this for a friend because I'm certain (although I don't know exactly why) that she is making a mistake and don't want to see it come back to bite her. Here is the situation.

She has a 3 year old daughter with a man who is only casually involved in his daughters life. Sees her maybe once or twice a month. Or at least he did until she instituted a "pay per visit" system. It's gone down since then. The system is simple. If he wants time with her he has to pay $100 dollars. This was done because he always had an excuse for not helping with his daughters expenses.

My friend the mother was recently married to a different guy. They are now discussing her husband maybe legally adopting her daughter. Maybe changing her name.

Is she putting herself in any sort of legal jeopardy by doing this? If the bio father presses for joint custody is she weakening he bargaining power? Or am I worried about nothing?

Additional details. He is on the birth certificate. They were never married. We are in the state of Ohio. No agreements have ever gone through the courts. He paid the last 100 with a cashier's check (probably for documentation) that hasn't been cashed yet.

I appreciate any advice. Just want to make sure shes doing this right.

Answer:
 Paying for parenting time is a terrible idea fundamentally opposed to the concept of support and likely to make both parents look bad before a judge.

It sounds like your friend has some very misguided ideas about parental rights and custody. She should speak with an attorney about a valid custody and support order. Answer #2: > Or at least he did until she instituted a "pay per visit" system.

So she's keeping the father away from his child.

> This was done because he always had an excuse for not helping with his daughters expenses.

Absent court ordered child support, he has no obligation to give money to the mother.

> They are now discussing her husband maybe legally adopting her daughter.

She can't just revoke dad's rights and replace him.

> Is she putting herself in any sort of legal jeopardy by doing this?

Oh yeah, the court won't look kindly on trying to keep a child away from their parent.

> If the bio father presses for joint custody is she weakening he(r) bargaining power?

Majorly.

The fact that she even accepted a check so that he may see his child is going to fuck her over in court pretty hard.

She has done everything very wrong. She needs a lawyer asap to fix what she has broken.

Answer #3: Your post is very confusing since it isnt about you. That makes it hard to handle.

Can she charge per visit: absent a court order, yes. It is stupid and any judge would have her ass for it.

Can the step dad adopt: not without the fathers permission. An active father involved means a judge is not going to write him out of the picture.

She is doing literally nothing right


Title: If you have a kid (Say they're 17 now), and your wife reveals "your" kid is someone else's, and you get a paternity test confirming that. How is she punished?

Question:
In the US
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer: It's not a crime in any of the 50 states. Soooo not sure what you mean.Answer #2: You can get a divorce, and the kid may or may not be pretty ticked off at her.Answer #3: Honestly, even if you aren't biologically the father, at that rate and longevity, you would be essentially considered dad by default. If you were asking would she be required to financially reimburse you or anything, not to my knowledge. There's no law that's she's breaking, just being a bad person.Answer #4: Nothing at all would happen. What did you think would happen?Answer #5: Divorce.


Title: (Colorado) 2 story duplex with one electric meter, I believe landlord is giving both residents same (duplicate) electric bill. Legal?

Question: One of my employees came to me and asked about his bill. He lives in a duplex(? I believe that is the right term) and there appears to be one electrical meter for him and his neighbors. The bill is ridiculously expensive for 2 people who are never home ($200) and when he confronted the landlord, the landlord said "That's just how much it is" and is refusing to hand over a bill, meter usage, etc. We believe he is telling the family upstairs the same thing, again, with no documentation. What are his legal rights? Can he ask to see a bill/statement? Can he contact the power company in town? If he can prove it, who should he contact. The housing is tight in this small town and he is afraid that if he brings it up he will be retaliated against for questioning the landlord. Any help appreciated.

Answer:
 Your employee needs to read the lease and determine what he's obligated to pay for. Does he have to pay a flat utility fee, or does it state he's responsible for paying half of the exact amount of the bill?Answer #2: There also is the chance that this is not a legal rental property. Many counties have regulations that prevent people from putting up a wall and renting one house to two different sets of tenants.

My point is, the tenant could call country inspectors to come out and check the property, but if it is found to be an illegal rental, the tenant would have to move out. Answer #3: IANAL, but doesn't each rental unit need to be metered separately? I would check with the local housing agency and find out.

I'm thinking the landlord is receiving an electric bill totaling $200 and is collecting $200 from each tenant, thus creating a tidy little extra rent windfall for himself.


Title: [USA] Signs or TOS or similar that say "We reserve the right to ..." - does this phrase grant them any legal rights they wouldn't otherwise have?

Question:
**Edit:** Location bot wants me to put in a state, I guess?  I was mostly talking about federal law, though, and this isn't about a specific issue, it's more about a general scenario.  Hey location bot:  "California".  Maybe that'll make him happy?

--------
original post:

For example, "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason", as was in the news not that long ago regarding refusing service to gay couples (or Blacks, in the 1960's).

Except... you can't do that, because the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that private business that function as places of civil accommodation can't discriminate based on protected classes (paraphrasing).

The owner of said hypothetical establishment is still subject to all of the same laws (and afforded all the same protections under the law) as he would be if he didn't have that sign, right?

Or, websites that have some sort of terms of service that say "We reserve the right to cancel your account"... well, the website is their property, don't they naturally have the right to cancel your account anyway?

To take a scenario further, I can sell you toothpaste and reserve the right to come into your bathroom at night to make sure you're brushing properly, but that doesn't make it not-tresspassing.

Or the logical extreme: I can reserve the right to stab you in the kidney for ordering a well done steak at my restaurant, but that doesn't make it not-battery if I do.

What I'm saying is, when I think about it, "We reserve the right to ____", in the common usage, doesn't seem to have any legal force behind it.

So, do these notifications do anything?  And why are they everywhere?

Answer:
 The sorts of reservation of rights clauses you're talking about are more about keeping rights and defeating the argument that the right was waived by any sort of implicit waiver.

To use your example of website terms of services, yes it's their property and they could shut the account down at any given time. BUT if some User argued that the website created a reasonable expectation (through press releases, text on the site, or some other method) that their data would be available in perpetuity or something, the User could argue that the website made an implicit promise or warranty to keep their account open until they closed it. These sorts of clauses prevent those arguments.


Title: Serve an eviction notice when the resident has an order of protection on me?

Question:
Long story but ex girlfriend filled for an order of protection on me and lied saying she lives there and got me and my roommate removed after being served. She has moved in after we were out and I have to wait a week for the court date to plea my case.

Need to serve her with an eviction notice if nothing else goes well with the cort date. How can I serve her with ones if I can't be around her? She hasn't lived there and moved out 4 months ago, knows how to work the system though well enough.

Answer: In most jurisdictions you aren't allowed to directly serve parties in a case in which you have an interest. Look at your county sheriff's website. They'll serve her for a fee.


Title: [NY] Someone is getting hurt in my building right now but I don't know where. What do I do?

Question:
I have no idea what to do here. I live in a fairly large apartment building and it is in a U shape where all the apartments in the back of the building face into the U. Sound travels pretty far in the U, so I often overhear stuff from my neighbors above or below me but I am never sure where exactly the sound is coming from.

One of my neighbors above or below is very loud, often having explosive fights. Today, I was able to hear the sound of what I think is someone being slapped very hard repeatedly, I could hear the person being slapped crying out in pain, and I heard a child crying and a (teen?) girl screaming at what sounds like an older woman doing the hurting to leave her alone. I don't know if it was the child or the teen girl being hurt. I don't even know if the older woman was the aggressor or if there was another silent party there as well.

I don't want to waste the police's time if this is just an episode of family discipline, but I would much rather be safe than sorry. I want to call the police, but I don't know what to tell them. Somewhere in my building of over 100 units I think I hear someone is being hurt, go find them? The noise has stopped now, but I still want to call or to know what to do if this happens again. I feel terrible, I just want to help and I feel liek I don't know how since I don't know where they are.

Answer: Call the police, please seriously do waste our time over something like this!Answer #2: call the police, tell them what you heard and you think its somewhere near your building. Answer #3: Just call the police.


Title: Just checked credit karma and it says I'm 18 child support payments behind, but I've never missed a payment.

Question:
I've been working ever since the ex and I split up. I was the one who filed for child support so I could cover my ass. I started a new job around one and a half years ago and I'm worried they aren't actually paying the attorney general. The money is taken out of my checks, but I'm not sure what the next step would be.

Thanks in advance.

Answer: Just about every state has an agency that handles child support.  Have you tried contacting them to see your payment status?


Title: Bought some CBD on vacation. Can I fly it home to NJ?

Question:
I'm in New Mexico on vacation.  Thought I'd try something new for some pain I've been having.  The store said "CBD", but the package I have says "Sacred Oil Hemp Sacrament" and the fine print says "Non-psychoactive phytocannabinoids".

I know it's not THC, but I'm ignorant of the laws.  Is it legal in NJ?  **Am I taking a risk if I fly this back to NJ (via a stop in Atlanta)?**

I can just toss it if there's any risk at all.  It's not worth a hassle.

Answer: Airports are federal jurisdiction. The [DEA considers CBD oil to be all within the CSA definition of marijuana] and therefore a schedule 1 controlled substance. You absoultely should not take it into an airport or aircraft. You could go to prison and face stiff fines.


Title: My friends dad just beat him but if I call the police he'll know it was me what the fuck do I do?

Question: I dont know who to tell because they live next door. My friend and I are both 16 M. I'm freaking the fuck out right now. Help

Answer:
 Ring 1800-422-4453, it’s the national child help hotline for abuse. Talk to them, but if it’s still ongoing or there is immediate danger, call 911 instead.

Also talk to someone at school, they are mandatory reporters of these things.Answer #2: If you feel uncomfortable or unable to notify the authorities tell a teacher or a school counselor. They will be mandated reporters. That way you are not contacting the police or CPS. Alternatively, you could contact them anonymously, but if you feel like you can't a teacher or counselor would be your best bet.


Title: Just moved in to a new apartment and thinking about moving out. (Southwest Baltimore City, MD)

Question:
Me and my two roommates just moved into a huge beautiful house in Southwest Baltimore city, we have paid the deposit and first months rent. At move in the landlord put in a new dishwasher(old one was broken but now the new one doesnt fully open) and a new dryer (did not have a dryer at move in). The toilet also had a massive leak which she promptly had fixed. A  week into living here we realized the washer was not properly functioning so she replaced that too but didn't want to pay to have to old one removed stating with an attitude that shes "tapped out for our property" and it can stay there, she also told us that we are now responsible for the appliances repairs. The yard was a mess when we moved in covered in rat holes/tunnels and weeds so we went out and cleaned most of it up just to find out it was also covered in poison ivy which sent one of my roommates to the ER (got on his face and now he cannot see).

The upstairs tub is now leaking into the living room.
The backdoor knob has broken off and needs to be completely replaced.
It is very difficult to close and lock the back door (it has to be done from outside).
The back gate to the yard is very broken (we have two large dogs so the yard was the main selling point).
There are several holes in the drywall obviously made by rats (we haven't seen any inside as of yet)
There is a significant amount of mold in the basement that seems to be there because of previous flooding.

She rented the place to us "as is" so there's a lot of minor damages in the house which we still haven't turned in the check in sheet for, most of it seems like an easy fix but i doubt she will take it off of the rent. We also have yet to turn in a signed lease, the one she gave us is incredibly landlord friendly and even goes against some of the MD tenant rights. We ran into one of our neighbors who use to live in our house and the said that our landlord is a slumlord, there is a bunch of trash in the back of the basement she just covers up with dry wall and she did nothing when they had rats inside of the house while they were living here. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer:
 She cannot rent the house to you "as is".  If there are repairs that must be done to make the house habitable, and that you didn't cause, put them in writing and send a certified letter.

But if you didn't sign a lease, you have 2 choices.  Leave and cut your losses, try to get back your deposit but realize you probably won't.  Otherwise sit down with the landlord and come to a signed agreement on the lease together.

Document everything with photographic evidence.  Some things she's absolutely responsible for... like a broken door knob (unless it's an easy fix you can do yourself) or the leak from the tub.  Other things, like poison ivy and rats, she is not.  You live in a house now, not an apartment, which comes with more responsibility for yard maintenence.


Title: Today my ex manager (62F) grabbed and shoved me(16F) and does not let us take breaks. Is there anything I can do?

Question:
I know I can report to the DOL about the breaks because I work over 8 hours a day and receive no breaks, ever. However, my (demoted due to overbearing and irrational behavior) manager did something she never has today.

To briefly preface, I work in a small diner that happens to be the most popular in the town and probably neighboring towns as well since we recently expanded. I work as a busser both days every weekend and then go to school 5 days a week. This lady used to be my manager but was demoted, however, she claims that she still has some power over me and I can believe it since she's fairly close with the owner of the restaurant. There is no HR or anything of the sort, we are understaffed and with some very underqualified workers.

So for the story, I was asking the hostesses up front what time we plan on closing our doors today since it was slammed (this allows me to know when to order my food, close booths, prepare for cleanup, etc.), I felt hands suddenly grab both of my shoulders and squeeze. I turn around and see my (ex) manager and she asks "is it important because I need to talk to them?" And then before I can even answer, keeps her hands on me, and shoves me out from behind the desk. I just started walking in the direction she shoved me because I didn't even know how to respond to that. My coworker and friend ran up to me and said "hey don't worry about it. She's been being rude all day, just don't let it bother you."

I'm pissed to say the least, a 62 year old woman should not be shoving around a teenager, nor anyone for that matter. Especially not an employee. This is all on tape since there are cameras everywhere. Is there anything I can do about her putting her hands on me, or is the only thing I can report merely regarding the "no breaks" rule we have?
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 You can file a police report if you feel you were assaulted. Probably wont go anywhere.

If they are refusing to let you take breaks, as in you actually asked to and were told no, you should report this to your state employment office. If you just aren't taking breaks because you are busy then that is different.

You should find another job. Don't waste time with people who treat you poorly. I doubt they are paying you enough to put up with any of this.


Title: Apartment Building threatening to fine whole building for dog poop around the building, even non-dog-owners

Question: I received this notice tacked to my door at my apartment building today: http://imgur.com/eR75wHU. Location: Eastern Virginia. The apartment wants to fine everyone in the building (part of a multi building complex) for surrounding dog poop. I don't even own a dog and so I have no idea why I should have to pay this fine if no one owns up to it. Extremely frustrating if they end up going with the mass fine.

Answer: Our old apartment allowed dogs. If you did not have a dog, then the portion of the lease that contained anything to do with dogs did not apply. Check your lease and see if there is something saying it would apply to people without dogs as well.Answer #2: Try to solve this outside of the law --> Contact management and tell them to bill it on all dog owners in the building, rather than ALL people in the building.


Title: Roommate (28M) might rape me (20FTM) and I don't want to be homeless

Question:
So a bit of back story (you can skip this bit of you want but it helps to explain some of this behaviour a little): my girlfriend (21MTF) of two years and I are polyamorous. We met a guy on Reddit and dated for a while. It was mostly hookups at first, but I quickly ended things on my end with him because he would touch me in unwelcome ways outside of playtime and there was an incident that gave me a really bad feeling. Things ended pretty quickly after with him and my girlfriend too. But we were in a bad way financially and he's a nurse, and we were still friends, so he let us move in with him. I didn't want to do this. I was never really on board. But this is what she wanted, so I went along because she hated the town we lived in. We now live several counties over from anything I know, and I'm barely able to drive.

...

Fast-forward to now, two months into living with this guy. We would still hook up every now and again for a couple weeks after we moved in, but he wanted to stop after he found a new girlfriend.

A few weeks ago we had this really long talk about life, as you do with your friends. We talked about past fuck-ups, he told me it's a turn-on for him to cheat on people (this is kind of important). I ended up telling him that hooking up with him was always terrifying for me because of last issues, and ultimately that's what made it so hot. **I think I made a terrible mistake by saying this**, because right after that he expressed an interest in rape play. It immediately made me nervous. Right after that he asked straight up if he could rape me in the shower, which of course I said no to, but he was very pushy about it and I ended up not taking a shower that day.

He's almost never home, but any time he is, if my girlfriend steps out of the room for more than a couple seconds (and sometimes even then), he will touch me and tell me he misses me, and no amount of me telling him to stop matters. I'm small, and he could hurt me.

I'm positive he'll end up doing something. At this point I'm not even considering if, it's a when situation. My issue is that we're not on the lease, and my girlfriend just got a job here and hasn't even gotten her first paycheck. If I do anything, I'm scared we'll be homeless. The only person I know will take us in lives in the middle of nowhere and we don't have a car so we wouldn't be able to get jobs. I'm scared to even post this because he might see this and either go ahead and do it or just kick us out. What the fuck do I do in this situation? My girlfriend told me to just always be with her, that she's going to save every dime and get us out of this as soon as possible. But I feel like I can't wait that long, that things are escalating too quickly. I'm scared and I can't believe I have to go through this again.

Answer:
 At this point it's unlikely that the legal system has a lot to offer you. It's a fairly blunt instrument, and most legal protections kick in after the fact, not pre-emptively. Even a restraining order would generally require a pre-existing pattern of harassment or violence, which isn't evident from your post.

You're doing the right thing by prioritizing getting out of this situation. In the interim, it might be worth keeping your phone charged and on your person whenever you're at home, and locking the door when you use the bathroom. If you want something a little stiffer than a bathroom privacy lock, [removable door braces](https://www.amazon.com/DoorJammer-Portable-Security-Personal-Protection/dp/B00N95IVSQ) exist, but they're ultimately only as strong as the door itself.

Depending on how comfortable you feel with this, you may also want to sit your roommate down and spell out, clearly, that your sexual relationship is over, that he is no longer to touch you for any reason, and that you will treat continued unwanted touching as sexual assault. That's very confrontational, and you can expect your roommate to be angry… but enforcing this boundary is important to you and to your safety, and his anger is his problem.

He cannot legally lock you out over this. If you aren't on the lease, he _can_ give you notice to terminate your tenancy, but that gives you a full month to find another place to live.


Title: [Virginia] Does revoking legal rights assume debts as well?

Question: I apologize if im unclear on terms.  My sister is 19.  She is mentally ill, and I dont expect any behavioral change soon.  My parents are looking to revoke her rights due to her mental issues.  If she gets a credit card somehow and maxes it out, what happens?  If they revoke her rights, do they assume her debts?

Answer:
 By 'revoking her rights,' do you mean having a court/judge declare her mentally incompetent, and giving your parents guardianship over her?

Either way, her debts are her debts. If what I describe/ask above is true, it would just be up to your parents to manage her finances.


Title: IA: Harassed by family member, police little help. Restraining order not an option?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 >I immediately called the police and they said there is really nothing I can do. If I serve him a restraining order I will be handing him my home address on a platter, without knowing if the order will even stick (he can appeal it).

That's not true, he is harassing you at work, you can make work the protected place.  Go down to the courthouse where you work.


Title: Update: [LA] Daughter was sexually assaulted at school, school had her do statement without parent present.

Question:
Original Post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/7kh7qm/la\_daughter\_was\_sexually\_assaulted\_at\_school/](https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/7kh7qm/la_daughter_was_sexually_assaulted_at_school/)

TLDR: Daughter was assaulted at school, we followed the thread advice, and let the school handle it.

Today was the first day of the new school year. Last year, the young man that attacked my daughter was removed from the school and did not return. This year, he was back on campus, and not only that, was in a class with her. He immediately was removed from the room when my daughter arrived. But the fact that he was back in the school upset her enough that we had to check her out of school and bring her home.

We asked the director of high schools at the school board office what options we had - he said he didn't want to let her transfer because 'she wanted to be there and didn't want to punish her' and asked us to keep her out of school until he could investigate.

She's feeling a major violation of trust and no longer safe at her school. My husband is using his PTO time to try to get her taken care of, but it seems that a transfer is out of the question. The school let us down in her protection.

What do I do now?

Answer:
 Hey,

What happened with her witness statement last year? Was it pursued? Having a police report can make a huge difference in instances like this. If you do not feel like you or your daughter is being heard please continue to move it up the chain.  It may be time now to do a consult with a lawyer who specializes in education and assault to see if you have a case/what your daughters options and legal rights are.

Please keep fighting for her, as someone who got double vision reading this (had an almost identical experience when i was sixteen down almost to the letter), I’m glad you and your husband are a united front on this. Is she still in therapy? If not I’d get her back into it.Answer #2: Of course he's back.  He's likely completed his plan of educational rehabilitation at an alternative school, and is now allowed to return to his former school.

Expulsions aren't life sentences.


Title: [OK] PTO missing with no explanation

Question:
So I went to check my PTO last week and I saw that my balance has been zeroed out. I brought it to HR's attention and they told me they have received notice of the problem and that they are working on a solution. A week has gone by and I have not received my hours back nor given a reason why they have disappeared.

Do I need to consider getting a lawyer soon?
Topic:
Labor Law

Answer:
 Calm down...take a deep breath.  You don't need a lawyer yet, or at all for that matter.  HR is looking into this for you.

Also, unless you have a contract or union agreement, paid time off is not a required benefit in Oklahoma.  So hypothetical, if your employer just wiped out all of your time off for the hell of it, there's nothing you can do about it.  Answer #2: You have got to be kidding me. These issues can take some time to resolve, and are usually not a high priority. Depending on how busy HR and payroll are, it could take several weeks. Unless you are trying to take time off and can't, or are terminating and due to be paid out your balance, this discrepancy hasn't cost you anything.

Have you looked at your recent timesheets and pay stubs to see if vacation was accidentally recorded or paid in error?


Title: Found a Jury duty notice in the mail requiring I appear 3 days ago. I'm not registered to vote.

Question:
So am I in deep shit? How can they summon me to Jury duty if I'm not registered to vote, I didn't even see this until days after. I can't afford to pay some fee or go to jail right now -_-. Any advise?

Edit* I live in Arlington Texas.

Answer:
 Jury duty records come from lots of places - tax returns, passport applications, drivers' licenses, voter registration, and many others. If you're a US citizen, you're required to appear for jury duty, regardless of how your jurisdiction finds out where you live.

Just call the courthouse and explain that you didn't get the notice until today. This happens all the time, and they'll generally just reschedule you for a later date. You're almost certainly not going to jail over this.


Title: Rear ended on the highway and have a few questions (Minnesota)

Question: My 4 month old son and I were rear ended last Friday and I have some questions on what my next steps should be. After I was impacted, I checked my son for any injuries (thankfully he didn't have any visible injuries) and called the authorities. The trooper came out and I got all of the relevant information (insurance, drivers name, photos of the damage, etc.). I have yet to contact my insurance company or file the crash report with the state.  The other piece is I've experienced some back pain post accident. I'm wondering what other steps I need to take prior to contacting the insurance company and if I need to reach out to an attorney.

Answer: All your questions aside, be sure to get a new car seat for your child, and add that to the insurance claim.


Title: Pennsylvania: in a terrible roommate situation- in breaking the lease an option?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You're already breaking the terms of the lease by illegally subletting, just fyi.

You can break the lease if you want (by moving out), but you'll be on the hook for any damages your landlord incurs (unpaid rent until they find a new tenant, etc.). What will probably happen is that your roommates will have to cover your share of the rent until a new tenant is found, and then they'll sue you in small claims court. As well as any other fees stipulated in your lease.


Title: (OH) Attorney that fired my now defunct LLC as a client now asking to setup "payment plan" for back fees.

Question: Just like the title says, I had an attorney representing my LLC (engagement letter has: Client: _______, LLC") that terminated their relationship with us as we were far behind in fee payments. They have now reached out to me personally to recover those fees and setup a "payment plan". The question I have is, I would assume they can get a judgement against the LLC (which again, has no assets and essentially is closed), however do they have any recourse to come after me personally for them? I would assume they cannot and this is just a last ditch effort to get me to make payments to them. Thanks in advance for any help!

Answer: Read your fee agreement. Standard operating procedure for small businesses is to have the owner(s) personally guarantee the fees. If you made that guarantee, you will be personally liable for the debt.


Title: Electricity provider's website is horribly unsecure. Was able to change my password with only the email address.

Question:
To try to keep this short, I got billed an absurd amount by my electricity provider, wanted to login to their website to see what went wrong, and didn't know my password since I set up my account a long time ago. Following the steps their site provided, I was able to change the password in less than 30 seconds without any form of verification. Once logged in, all of my personal information was readily available. To make it worse, there was no notification that my password changed. I verified I can do it with another email that has an account. (my sister's)

I'm not going to say the name of the company for the sake of other customers information, but where do I even start with holding them accountable? Should I speak to a lawyer? Any help is super appreciated!

Answer: Hold them accountable for what? You should pay your bill and stop fantasizing about suing your electric provider over security issues you don't have a legal right to. Answer #2: You can't do anything without having damages. File a complaint with your state's utility commissioner if you'd like, that's it.


Title: Questions regarding child custody

Question:
I’m going to seek an attorney, but i thought i might throw my situation out there and see what others think. I live in Oregon.

I (18/F) am currently 15 weeks pregnant. I recently left the father(16/M) after he failed a drug test for methamphetamine. We started our relationship prior to me turning 18, and with his parents consent he lived with me due to having a VERY unstable home life(never having a place to live, if they did it was trashed and rodent infested). He lived with me the entire relationship up until i drug tested him.
He is now threatening to charge me with Statutory rape, as i do not believe he should be involved in my child’s life, due to his drug abuse, and lack of effort in anything, school, job, etc.

He has a history of not going to school/expelled for physical violence, run ins with the law(being in juvenile as well), and drug abuse.

His father is a registered SO and if in prison for beating his mother in-front of children. And has been in and out of prison throughout his whole life.

His mother is a drug dealer, and is unstable financially wise. They live in a two bedroom house with 10 people, but i believe we’re evicted this past week. The parents have 7 children, only two have graduated, the rest including the youngest, who is 11, do not attend school because they aren’t forced too. Two of the older brothers have drug addiction problems regarding meth as well.

I, have no record, never even had detention, never had a ticket, and have a 1300/month income and own a 3 bedroom house. (My father took his life and i inherited the house as i am his only child).

The fathers family has a really bad reputation in my county, and with police. And i have photo evidence and video evidence of him tweaking, the drug test, meth(which he kept in his wallet behind the ultrasound photo), pipe and a home made meth bong made out of a baby bottle.

I do not plan on having him on the birth certificate, and the whole family is currently blocked on social media due to harassment and lies. I already plan on informing staff and security while I’m in labor to not allow them in if they attempt to come to the hospital.

My question is, should i be concerned that he could use statutory rape against me in court, would that increase his chances of winning the custody battle? What questions should i be prepared for, and have ready for the attorney?
I have never had a legal issue before, and am very new to all of this, so any advice, thoughts are appreciated.

thank you in advance, And i apologize if this is all over the place, my brain is scattered trying to process this all.

Answer:
 While the age of consent in Oregon is 18, they have a “Romeo & Juliet” exception as long as both parties are over the age of 14 and the difference between the two parties ages is no more than three years. So you can tell him to pound (or smoke) sand.

Once the child is born, either of you can seek to legally establish his paternity of the child. This would entitle you (as custodial parent) to child support, but also give him the right to seek some level of visitation or custody, so it would be good to speak to a lawyer before making that decision.


Title: Concerned for knowing..

Question:
Not sure what flair to use for this.  So basically there was an incident at work where one guy snitched on the other, lets call one 16 and 21 (both their ages) 16 snitched to his mom about 21 having weed in his car, k9 came, he lost his job and got a fine.  This was like 3 months ago.

i texted 21 today just to let him know that 16 was the one that snitched, and he asked if "does 16 know hes gonna get his ass kicked yet?" and i stupidly replied with "no he doesnt know".

I realized that was stupid so i immediately deleted the text conversation.  Im 18 and live in virginia btw.

I doubt he'll do anything because the guy is a drunk and doesnt leave the house except for work.  Its been 2 months and he hasnt done anything, but is there anything i could get in trouble for on my end?  I feel like im ok but i just wanted to ask legaladvice just incase.

thanks!

Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Why did you even involve yourself in this? You snitched on the snitch.


Title: My headphones were broken by someone in my school.

Question:
I was physically hit multiple times at my school. When I fought back they ripped my expensive earbuds out of my ear and broke them. We each get one lunch detention and nothing else. Is there any way to get my money back or am I just screwed.
Topic:
School Related Issues

Answer: Your parents can sue their parents in small claims court.


Title: PA. Was filmed on private property by a private investigator and now its in court for driving under DUI suspension. What specifically are video taping laws as applied to this situation?

Question: My ex has been having me followed since 2015. I have no clue why or what her aim is but apparently its to damage my life as much as possible. What are PA videotaping laws as applied to: 1) private property. 2) without my knowledge or consent. (no audio on tape). 3) private eyes working directly with law enforcement. 4) camera placement mounting as per the "enhanced surveillance" statute?  Any help is appreciated. Thanks

Answer: Just because the property is private doesn't mean you have an expectation of privacy. If it can be seen from a public place, it's likely that it can be legally recorded without your consent.


Title: Walmart shipped after I cancelled and won't pick up (toronto, ontario)

Question:
Hi All,

I tried to buy an xbox from Walmart at the beginning of October but it was going to take awhile to ship.  I went to a different store to buy it and cancelled it with Walmart because it wouldn't arrive on time for my husband's birthday.  They cancelled it and said not to worry about it and when I log in to their website it says cancelled.  About 1.5-2 weeks after I cancelled my husband was home and received it (signing for it).  I called Walmart and let them know what happened and told them I would not return it to a store because I didn't want to be accused of theft.  They said that they would send a carrier to me within 24-48 hours of my call.

No one has called me.  The xbox is sitting in a box in my front hall and has been for almost two weeks.  I've tried to do the right thing here - what are the implications if I keep it now?

Answer:
 The implications are that they will re-bill your card and move on, or demand payment and send you to collections if you refuse.

Call them again and ask what do. If it's easier, _do_ take it to a store - and get a receipt for the return from customer service when you do. I'm not sure why you'd think returning unwanted merchandise per the company's return policy would make you look like a thief.


Title: someone sent me a walmart secret shopper/fraudulent check. I know it's a scam, but how should I proceed?

Question:
Location: Texas

A few weeks ago, someone on a  professional forum posted a link for a google doc to sign up for a secret shopper's survey at walmart. The topic was ways people get supplemental income. I signed up, put in my name, address, phone number, the usual. Didn't think much of it, since some legit market researcher companies use google docs.

A few days ago, I got an email and text messages from a 512 and 816 area codes (same messages, different numbers), saying that it's someone from HR, they have sent the package of the first assignment is checking in to see the status/I have completed it. They sent a more recent text saying that the package had arrived and to complete the assignment soon. I checked my mail, sure enough, there was a priority flat rate envelope waiting for me.

It struck me as odd, because the package was sent by a bail bonds company in California. As I opened it, the first thing I saw was a check made to me for about ~$1,300 from Nationwide Insurance. I have not been involved in any accident whatsoever, so this was a giant red flag. There was a long letter detailing instructions that I needed to cash the check TODAY or by the latest TOMORROW, and buy 4 x $250 walmart gift cards. I was going to "evaluate the selling of walmart gift cards" and could buy them anywhere (giant red flag #2).

Then, to complete the assignment, I was to take a picture of the gift cards, along with their pins scratched out, to an email address listed on the survey evaluation instruction (this is how it's titled.) There are a number of grammatical errors and typos in the instruction letter, as well as different fonts.

I used to work at a bank as a teller, so I am familiar with validity of checks. The check that was made to me is also the bank I personally use. Here are some issues I had with the check:

1) The check is printed out on a perforated paper, however, at the very bottom, it says the stock number of the check, and where they were ordered from (versacheck.com)

2) There is NO WAY a major company like Nationwide would print out their checks on paper they ordered online. Just no way.

3) IF I did cash the check (I'm not), big insurance accounts register all their checks, and they ask the teller to verify the payee. I have never contacted Nationwide nor have I been in any accident recently.

Other than that, the check looks alarmingly real, down to the possible account number and authorized signature.

Now, my question now is, what should I do? Should I let the companies (progressive, usps) know? I plan on reporting to the attorney general of my state, but should I also contact someone else?

I'm at a crossroads here because I never imagined I'd be looped into a scan like this. I'm writing this to let others know, if you have a bad gut feeling about something involving money that's not yours, don't get involved in it. These fraudsters are getting increasingly creative in getting to money that's not theirs.

#TL;DR Sent my information to a scammer, didn't know it was a scam until I got the "package" for an assignment I was going to complete. Fraudulent check was made out to me, scammers are getting increasingly sneaky in getting people to be their mules. My question is how should I report this?

Answer:
 Shred the check, break contact, and move on.

You can make a police report about it. If you do, they may or may not be interested in the check. Realistically, this sort of check fraud is so widespread and so hard to trace that I'd be surprised if they took it up.


Title: Can a foreigner enter the US to marry without a fiance visa if they're not required to hold a visa to enter the US?

Question:
My state is Indiana and my fiance lives in Sweden.

We are getting rather confused about laws and best course of action. It seems that, in order for a foreigner to marry in the US, they would need to enter on a fiance visa. However, the US does not require Swedish nationals to hold any type of visa to enter the US for a maximum length of 90 days. We are unclear if a fiance visa is actually necessary. For example, would my fiance be able to marry me here without the visa, then return to Sweden while we file the paperwork for a spousal visa/green card, or would this be considered immigration fraud?

From what I've read, it's easier to get approved for a spousal visa than a fiance visa. So we're also wondering whether the better option would be to marry in Sweden, then I return to the US and file the paperwork.

I'm just not finding much information other than the process for applying for a fiance visa.

Thanks!

Answer:
 > For example, would my fiance be able to marry me here without the visa, then return to Sweden while we file the paperwork for a spousal visa/green card

This is legal. No specific type of visa is required to get married in the US, they just have to leave afterwards

But they may be denied entry if CBP believes they intend immigration fraud (even if that's not the case)

----

If you want to live together in the US during the immigration process,  you'd want to get a fiance visa (K-1)Answer #2: I just went through a similar same process. My wife (German) and I (American) decided to move back stateside with our two children. We've been married for several years.

Your fiance can come into the US on the VWP and you can marry here, however your fiance would need a return ticket and you/your fiance should under no circumstances apply for AOS (adjustment of status) afterwards while she is here. It will be considered fraud if it is believed that your fiance planned to stay here when your fiance entered the country. Under the VWP, anyone travelling into the country agrees that they will return to their country. There are exceptions, however under the current administration, the risks are just too high.

Get married wherever you want, have your spouse file at his/her us consulate in Sweden. You don't need to be there during the process. The length of time until approval varies from country to country, but in Germany it took about 6 weeks. Your fiance should look into all immunization and police record requirements now to save time.

Best of luck!!!Answer #3: You might also post on /r/immigration


Title: Reddit discussion on r/AmItheAsshole about if there would be legal reprocussions on a charity organization taking 500 dollars from a first place for a second place prize (to award it to an ASD Contestant for PR).

Question:
[Here is the chain in question](https://np.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/bjai4e/update_aita_for_not_sharing_my_prize_with_a/em6oy5j/).

TL;DR The OP signed up for a cook off and won (2500 dollar prize).  The news and the organization doing the contest (for charity) got wind that one of the contestants had Aspergers and decided to try and "pressure" OP after they won into giving half of their prize to the ASD Contestant.  They refused and then were basically shamed about it.

When they went to collect, the organization had taken 500 dollars from their prize for a "second place" prize they gave to the ASD contestant and claimed that OP had been the one to "suggest" that.

After that they via facebook were able to get in contact with the family of the girl with ASD and they worked it out.  The original poster is fine with the ending, but I was just curious if there is legal recourse as the chain linked suggests?  Have there been cases like that before where a decent precedent was set?

Answer: I don't know but giving prizes to people because they are "special needs" in some way is super condescending.


Title: [NY] How do I work towards early release from probation?

Question: I got a misdemeanor for placing a crank call. This is my first offense/encounter with the law. I'm set to begin 2 years of probation. There are no travel restrictions and I am supposedly allowed to drink. I understand I should conduct myself courteously and actually show up to all my appointments/make all my phone calls. Besides this, what would you recommend to better the chances of the officer signing off on an early release? Should I start volunteering around town? Should I submit a transcript from my school? Basically, what would the officer and the judge want to see in order to release me? At what point should I approach the subject with my probation officer? Thank you to anyone who can answer these for me. I realize my probation is probably way less restrictive than some other people's, but quite frankly I want it to end as soon as possible. Thanks!

Answer: There is no telling, and no "sure fire way" to get off of probation early. Speak to your PO after a few months of good behavior. Don't be surprised if they tell you there isn't anything that can be done.


Title: Landlord entering basement apartment without notice. Can I put furniture in front of door?

Question:
Prince George's County, Maryland

I live in a basement apartment. I have an exterior door (private entry) and an interior door that leads to the common use laundry room and the rest of the house.  Both doors lock and I keep them locked.  My landlady loves to come into my apartment when I am not home for whatever reason she feels like, mostly it has to do with laziness.  I know this is unlawful entry without prior notice.  I know I cannot alter the locks.

But, can I move a heavy piece of furniture in front of the door with a note that says, "In the event of an emergency please access apartment via exterior door"?  That way I'm not denying my landlady access, but I'm making her work for it a little.  I've done this before with a table and I have her on video moving the table out of the way, then coming into my apartment.  Thinking something heavier this time.

I've had multiple conversations with her about it, normally she behaves for awhile but then something comes up (in this case she wants to install a new bathroom in her side of the basement) and she starts doing it again.

I plan on buying a condo or townhouse in about 6 months, so it would be such a pain to move for only 6 months.  Just seeing if I am in the clear here.

Answer: Blocking an exit so you can't get out quickly in a fire is a very bad idea and sometimes illegal. Give her written notice that she is not to enter your apartment unless for a legal reason and see if she keeps doing it. You may be able to break your lease without penalty or move out without being liable for any more rent.