Title: (WV) My friend's house is being ravaged by squatters. The police are doing nothing to stop it. What are her options?

Question:
Hello, r/legaladvice. I'm posting here on behalf of a friend who lives in West Virginia. A few months ago, her mother and herself moved from her childhood home into an apartment. Her mother is still the owner of the house. They kept some sentimental valuables there and other household goods while they lived in the apartment. Her house has been destroyed by squatters who sprang on the house as soon as it became vacant. They have stolen so many things, taken things inside like clothes, torn apart furniture, even going as far as to rip apart the floors and walls and pulling out wires, presumably to scrap.

In one incident, someone inside the house overdosed on drugs and DIED in the house. Law enforcement and paramedics entered the house a removed the body, but never notified them that it had occurred. They found out from a neighbor. So many disgusting this have happened to the house, including leaving bottles of urine on the outside of the house.

They have contacted law enforcement several times and absolutely nothing has been done. It once took two phone calls and two hours for any police to show up. Parts of the house have become inaccessible due to walls and floors being torn apart. They don't have any homeowner's insurance and are hesitant to contact a lawyer because of financial hardships. Does anybody have any advice on the steps they can take to retake their property? What can they do to save their home?

Answer:
 >They don't have any homeowner's insurance

Then the house is unrecoverably damaged without massive out of pocket expenses. Not having homeowner's insurance was an extremely boneheaded move and it's fucked your friend over financially, since there's no way these people have any money to sue for.

The only thing they can do is move to evict since the police will not trespass the squatters.Answer #2: At this point, they need to file for an eviction. This will likely not be quick, nor easy. And any damages done to the house will likely have to be paid by your friend, because the squatters are more than likely judgement proof.

Unfortunately, not having insurance is going to cost then in the long run. Answer #3: Delete this post, repost it mentioning the drug OD in the title of the post, this will bring more attention to this post and you'll get more adviceAnswer #4: There are few laws that compel police to actually do anything in particular as part of their jobs -- they are well within their rights to stand by all squatters destroy the house.

You can always choose to hire a private security firm to protect it. (And by "always" I mean never, unless you are rich enough to have money to burn.) Failing that, you could try to get the "security firm" that your community employs (funded by tax dollars) to take action. If calling the police directly is not gotten you anywhere, try calling your local politicians. They are the ones who pay for that police force, and many of them are responsive to voter complaints.


Title: My friend had someone close to her break into her home and steal from her. Me and her talked about ways to get back at them... little did I know she actually acted on one of them. Can I get in trouble?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Possibly. You could be charged with a conspiracy.

Why didn't you or she call the police and report the theft?


Title: (CA) Auto accident, I was rear ended into another vehicle. Car in the front of the accident caught on fire minutes after. They've hired a lawyer.

Question: So I was completely stopped at a red light. The red light turns green but I remain stopped behind a disabled vehicle. I'm then rear ended and pushed into the disabled vechile. The man who rear ended me and I drove our vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle in front was pushed to the side of the road where it eventually caught fire. The owner has hired a personal injury lawyer and they contacted me to get information on the car that rear ended me. Should I be worried and hire a lawyer of my own?

Answer:
 You should contact your insurance company tomorrow and do exactly what they say.

The insurance company lawyer (if a suit is actually filed) will defend you against any claim the other driver brings.  You only need your own lawyer if you were injured and are thinking of suing him.

The chances that you'll be found at fault, based on what you said, are very low, btw.


Title: [USA/New Zealand] Wife and I booked a trip abroad (honeymoon) before her name change went through (ff-miles, etc.), and now she is told she can't fly ... help?! Options? Ideas? Airline(s) say hands are tied.

Question:
Wife's former name is on the ticket, all other information (frequent flier miles, passport, etc.) is in her new name. At the time of purchase, she couldn't change her name because ff-miles, etc. were attached to her old name (which she since changed within the airline with no problem). We did not use ff-miles for the tickets, but got a great deal, so had to act fast.

Now our options are cancel/rebook with her (not together) on a different flight for a ton more money/ff-miles (which is ludicrous), and that's really about it.

Marriage license / birth certificate, etc. are all not options as the airline said they wouldn't matter.

Thoughts? Answers? Ideas? Thank you, Reddit! This has to happen all of the time! How is this not easily solved?!

I should probably mention the trip isn't for a few months, so there's time to act on things however we can.

Answer:
 I really doubt this needs to be escalated to the level where you need legal help. Instead, try contacting higher levels of management at the airlines. Try asking someone such as a travel writer if they have any contacts within the airlines who might be able to help you. I am sure that if this tail reached the right people at the airline they would change the policy or make an exception for you; I am not sure how difficult it would be to find the right people.

I will also comment that it is not unusual for newly married people to carry around documentation of both their old and new names (obviously one of those IDs will be expired) and for people to make reasonable exceptions. However, since you have time to sort this out beforehand you should not need to rely on last minute accommodations.Answer #2: So your wife has a ticket issued with her former name?

Serious question: has she tried calling the airline and politely asking them to change the ticket?


Title: [North Carolina]Well Reddit I fucked up need some advice

Question:
Thank you in advance, i'll try to be succinct.

I cut in front of someone (In my opinion it wasn't even close but i've been wrong before) in traffic on interstate, they flash their lights at me 3-5 times, pull up beside of me.  I swerve towards them, they back off and follow me with a camera cell.  I calm down and take the next exit and defuse myself from the situation.  I'm unsure when the camera first came out.  I make sure I wasn't followed and head home.  My car is a rental.

1)  Advice?

2)  If the advice involves a lawyer, do you have any recommendations on sites that rates lawyers?

Again, thank you so much reddit for always being there for me!
Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer: Don't ever swerve at people intentionally. It's needlessly dangerous.


Title: College student, first time Tutor. Student to come to my apartment?

Question:
I am sorry if this is the wrong subreddit. I could not think of a more appropriate one.

Today, I had an interview to become a mathematics tutor for a sophomore student in high school. I have never been a personal tutor, so I felt extremely unprepared for the interview. Anyway, I still managed to land the job. I tried to have the meeting in the high school, but the student seemed very resistant to the idea. The father suggested that the student just come over to my apartment for the tutoring sessions, since I live nearby the high school. In my nervousness, I agreed.

My question is, have I made a serious mistake? I have a 16 year old kid I don't know coming to my apartment. Is there some sort of contract I can draw up, or should I make efforts to change locations immediately? I would hate to lose the job by being obstinate.

Edit: I live in Cheney, WA, USA

Answer:
 Why would you think it's a problem? If your worried about sexual or any other allegations, there's no contract in the world that will protect you if those allegations do happen...

You are welcome to not do the tutoring at your house, but as you mentioned, they're welcome to not employ you.

If they hired you even after you flunked the interview (in your opinion, and stop being so hard on yourself!), they seem like nice enough people. Just explain to them that it makes you uncomfortable and ask them to do it anywhere else.


Title: Should I postpone the bar or risk failing it?

Question: I'll be close to 7 months pregnant when I take the bar exam in February. I haven't been putting too much time into my studies because I've been exhausted from the pregnancy. I don't have a job offer lined up, so I can postpone it without repercussions. However, I really would like to get it out of the way. Is it possible to cram for 3 weeks? I've attended all the lectures in my bar prep classes and I've been going thru my outlines, but I haven't put in too much time in the actual problems. What happens if I fail the bar? Would employers know? Or would I appear in some database? I would be grateful for any advice.  I'm taking the Florida Bar.

Answer:
 Give it a shot. As hard as it is to study while pregnant, it will be even harder with an infant. Answer #2: Don't sweat it.  If you fail, you just sign up for the next date you want to take it.  Here's what the [Florida Supreme Court](http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/barscores/index.shtml) has to say about the release of bar results:

>As a service to The Florida Bar applicants, the Supreme Court of Florida posts the pass/fail results from the most recent General Bar Examination. The results will be available online for thirty days after the date the Court officially orders their release. The tentative date will be announced at the bar examination. The results are listed by each applicant's Bar Applicant File Number.

It looks like there's no identifiable public record of people who don't pass the test, so employers won't know unless you tell them.

Just do a search for "famous lawyers who failed the bar exam" to see that it's no big deal.  For example, Benjamin Cardozo failed. That didn't stop him from being one of the most influential Supreme Court Justices in history.Answer #3: If you were a decent student and took the review classes, just cram and take it. We all know plenty of boneheads practicing law and if they could do it, you can no problem.

If you thinks it's tough to find time to study now, wait until you have that newborn.


Title: Caught Underage Drinking

Question:
I'm 18 and just graduated from high school. I was at a party that got busted by the cops and ran away. Unfortunately, I returned to the house about two hours later and was subsequently caught and given a breathalyzer (had a BAC of 0.079). Stupidly, I gave the police my real name and date of birth. However, I did not have an ID on me for them to see. They said that they would give me diversion papers before I left so I could avoid having a criminal offense on my record. I was quickly picked up by a sober, legal adult and the cops did not give me anything. Do I have cause to worry? Can they send something to my address? Do they even have enough proof that I am who I said I was to get me in trouble? Is it possible they didn't care because they had been there so long and were tired? Thank you.

EDIT: I am from Vermont, to clarify (not sure how laws vary from state to state)

Answer:
 >Stupidly, I gave the police my real name and date of birth.

That is actually smart, since lying about your info can be a much greater offense.

> I was quickly picked up by a sober, legal adult and the cops did not give me anything
> Can they send something to my address?

I'm reading between the lines and saying your parents are not who picked you up, and you don't want them to find out.  Yes, they (or anybody else on the planet) can mail something to your house.

> Do they even have enough proof that I am who I said I was to get me in trouble?

Yes, if you have a state ID or drivers license, your photo is on file.  There is a good chance they pulled up your picture to verify it was you on scene.

> Is it possible they didn't care because they had been there so long and were tired?

Possible, not likely.

Did they give you the diversion paperwork?  And where did this occur?


Title: New Hampshire - Moving to new apartment this weekend. Roommate just told me they won't be paying rent or moving in.

Question:
I am supposed to be moving into a new apartment this weekend with two other people. We signed the lease back in March and have agreed to split the rent evenly 3 ways.

Last night, one of the roommates texted me and said that they no longer want to live in the apartment with us and thus will not be paying rent. Also they said that it is now my responsibility to find a new tenant to take their place.

I know that from the landlord's perspective this doesn't matter and we are all equally responsible for making sure the entire rent is paid. I plan to talk to him today about this to see if he'll give us a break and let us have some time to figure out how to come up with the extra rent.

If I pay the extra third of the rent (plus deposit) do I have any recourse in small claims court to get my money back from this person? Their name is also on the lease and they are therefor just as responsible for paying this as I am.

Thanks.

Answer:
 >If I pay the extra third of the rent (plus deposit) do I have any recourse in small claims court to get my money back from this person? Their name is also on the lease and they are therefor just as responsible for paying this as I am.

Yep, and he was kind enough to put in writing that he won't be paying his contractually obligated rent.Answer #2: save that text...Answer #3: They should make and FAQ for this sub. Every single day there is a person asking about what to do if a person on their lease isnt paying.

The answer is always pay it so your landlord doesn't sue you. Then, at a later time, sue that person for the money they were supposed to pay since their NAME IS ON THE LEASE. It's cut and dry. You will win a court case. It stinks and depending on the amount and how quickly you can sublet, may or may not be worth your time to go to court. People are shitty. Repetitive questions from people that clearly didnt search is shittier.

EDIT: The only issue I see is that there was no clearly defined payment procedure for you three since you didnt even begin the lease. I guess if there is no written agreement, or even any texts, it would be assumed a 3-way split, which is what you claim anyways.


Title: Terry Stops identification in Wisconsin

Question:
I know that Wisconsin is not a stop-and-identify state in regards to producing an ID, however, I do believe you have to give the officer your name.

I have an underage brother who decided to get a fake id and buy at the local campus liquor store. They accept his fake, and he walks with cases of beer on the street on the way home. He says since he doesn't have to give his ID to an officer he will not receive any possession citation. My question is that if a police officer sees him and knows he is in a neighborhood with a bunch of underage drinking going on, can he conduct a Terry stop? And if so, will my friend refusing to give him his ID but giving him his name lead to a citation?

Just trying to make sure my brother doesn't get himself in trouble.

Thanks

Answer:
 If the police have reasonable suspicion that he is committing a crime (like possessing alcohol underage) they can detain him to investigate.  That detention can be legally prolonged for a variety of factors, including your brother's lack of cooperation.

If, during that detention, they develop probable cause to arrest, they can arrest him even if they don't know *for sure* he is underage.

This is likely not a workable plan.


Title: Ex-husband says I can't ask about child support. Arkansas.

Question:
My ex-husband has an custody agreement that says he is to pay child support in line with his income. All standard stuff. No wage garnishment or anything. It says he must pay monthly but doesn't specify a date. It just went into effect two months ago. Our divorce happened mid month last month so we reached an agreement through our lawyers and with the court to pay only half the amount for that month. I received that a two weeks after the court date. That was fine since it was mid month and it was the first time and everything was confusing. I contacted him this month to try to set up a date to pay for this month. He said he would pay this month but doesn't want to select a set date. I just have to sort of wait around for the whole month until he feels like it or whatever. I've offered for him to pay weekly, half and half (with each paycheck) or maybe a lump sum near the beginning of the month.

his response to this communication is I'm not allowed to ask about it. The agreement says monthly and I can't ask until he is late. But that isn't in the agreement.

He says if I ask about it, it falls in line with the "harassment" clause in the custody agreement, but we both know that isn't what the harassment clause is for.

It is maybe a text or two a week that says " Hey, I need to do a budget for child care this week and was wondering if you had an idea of when or how you were going to pay child support."

I really don't want to go back to court over a squabble. I don't really want to go to the child support enforcement office and make him pay through the clearinghouse (we've discussed that and he claims he isn't a deadbeat).

Is asking him about child support harassment? (The decree mentions nothing about asking about child support).

Notes: Yes, I know I can't keep him from seeing our child because of child support. I wouldn't want to anyway. That would be unfair to our child and just wrong. No,  I am not unemployed ( I have a goodjob but I also have primary custody). Kids cost money. No, he didn't want joint custody. Yes, I offered. He declined. No, I am not in it for the money but I have daycare to pay for so I can work. Yes, the money is going towards the child (or to reimburse me for money I spent). No, I didn't get pregnant on purpose. We were married for years. We wanted children. No, no one cheated. We just divorced. It happens.    Yes, I'm living as cheaply as possible. I keep him 23 days out of the month excluding alternating holidays.

Answer: If it has to be paid monthly, just assume it'll always be the last day of the month and do your best not to budget for it, assume you'll never get it. If he doesn't pay you can file contempt and/or file for wage garnishment.Answer #2: What the other poster said, you are going to be screwed for a month but just start planning on the October payment being on the 30th and going to pay November bills. And stop texting twice a week about it. He might be able to convince a judge that is harassment. Text once on the second to last day of the month and leave it at that. Answer #3: I can't believe that any attorney would negotiate to its conclusion, or any judge would adopt and make a court order, an agreement without specific provisions about the due date of child support. I am very curious as to why you didn't insist upon a payment date during the negotiations. Edit for punctuation.


Title: I got a concussion at work, and have complications from that. Is it worth suing? Arizona

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 OK, this sub scares the hell out of me. None of the people responding to you are attorneys. They are certainly not licensed in AZ. So why don't we just look for a licensed AZ attorney... oh I'm one.

First, you aren't going to sue the kid or his family because they probably don't have any money worth pursuing. I know you already indicated you don't want to do that, but for any other yahoos reading you aren't going to sue someone you can't recover from.

Second, it sounds like you have very serious and long term issues. Your worker's comp must pay everything as you've already indicated, but you will also need to be assigned an impairment rating for life that you can recover on as well. This is kind of the equivalent of a pain and suffering settlement.

Third, you really need to find a good worker's compensation attorney. The sub doesn't allow solicitation so I can't help you there. However, you will not be required to pay up front for one and I'm sure any worker's comp attorney worth their salt would be very interested in your case.

Fourth, you may also have an employment law claim, typically worker's comp attorney's can handle these too.

Last, while I am an AZ attorney, I am not your attorney and this should not be construed as any attorney client relationship. Your case/s will have a limited timeline to pursue your claims so it is recommended you consult an attorney sooner rather than later. Best of luck to you.


Title: Judge took license in court and got license suspended for 1 month. received letter from dmv saying suspension doesnt start until june 14th.

Question: I went to court for a speeding ticket and the judge took my license and said it would be suspended for 1 month. I received a letter from the dmv saying that the suspension doesnt start until june 14th. Does this mean the suspension was extended? who can i contact about this?

Answer: I would start with calling the DMV or the court that took your license and ask them.


Title: I might be losing my job over an apparent racist comment (this comment wasn't racist and want aimed at this person) nor was there any hate involved.

Question:
So today after our start up meeting,every one went round the holiday board to see what time off was left, I laughed and said *look at us trying to escape the slave house* the tern has been used before even by bosses, as an example boss asked how my holiday was I replied it wax great and glad to be back to the slave house, clue chuckle and get in with the days work.  Now where I'm worried is this person approached me   very angry at the comment (she is from the Philippines, college graduate basically qualified to be my boss and is pretty well off for working in another country) she asked about the comment  I said I was sorry and explained to her the context at what i was meaning, she then replied that  she was not a slave that she went to college you know highly offended and denying it, I explained again what the comment was how I by no means meant any harm by it and that I was very sorry and it wouldn't happen again, she then said stop it or els (that's a threat)  I thaught best shut up and let her talk I might not get reported for this and lose my job, she repeated the same stuff about how she was wealthy and not a slave (were all slaves to our job is the entire context to it it's Scotland for fuck sake this is workplace banter), so I shut up I let her finish and I apologise again with her telling me to stop or els (I did not challenge the at any point) so the entire day goes by and I'm hit with a investigation letter for racial abuse (note one thing there is another Philippion woman at my work who is the exact opposite when it comes to stuff like this and this person was up until a few weeks ago)

So this person and some others in my workplace have been a bot weird with me since I came out, now I highly doubt that in this day and age this will be a sole reason for her taking it to Hart, but some people have flat out refused to talk to me and they are all in the same click.

I suppose I would love aby advise on what I would benefit from saying here or the other term is am I screwed?  If I lose my job I lose my life my debt will crush me I will be on the street and I'm not sitting about waiting for it to happen I'm being pro active and hunting for another job.  Thanks for listening guys.

Edit :this could go to court too btw.

Another edit: I'm not a nazi guys I'm just an idiot, I'd like to apologise to anyone I offended.

Answer:
 Edit: Soo... OP just offhandedly made a racist remark about Jews, in a law related sub, in reply to a Jew trying to help him with his racism related problem. I'm gonna go ahead and file this under a likely justified complaint about racism in the workplace.

Generally I doubt you'd get fired for it, but if you do it's legal as far as I'm aware. I'm no expert on Scottish employment laws though. They'll still have to give you notice (or pay in lieu of notice), and you'd likely be able to collect unemployment.

No court I know of would ever convict or charge you criminally for shit like this, even if you were racist, that's not a crime on it's own. She suffered no damages and would not be able to sue you.

It's always nice to shop around and see if there are any better offers for you, maybe some place will offer you more money, but generally unless your workplace is no longer a place you'd like to work at this'll probably just blow over eventually. Answer #2: OP is in Scotland.

Tldr: OP made light hearted comment about working in a slave house. Philippino colleague complained that he or she was calling her a slave. Being investigated by employer.

Edit: I've archived the egregious comments in case anyone wants to post this clusterfuck to /r/bestoflegaladvice in 12 hours time: https://archive.is/epNsp


Title: (Texas) Is it legal or reportable to CPS to lock teenage children inside their house from 8pm-7am?

Question:
I'm a bit older than my siblings, who are 15, 16, and 17. They live with our mom and dad.

A couple nights ago, the 15 and 17 year old decided to go on a walk around their farm after being told not to. So yesterday, our dad installed double sided deadbolts on all the doors in the house and kept them locked from 8pm-7am, and said he plans to do so every night.

I think they also bolted the 15 year olds window shut, but I could be mistaken.

The parents don't have any reason to believe the kids are in danger from going outside at night, they just don't want them to.

My main concern is that it seems like this could be a huge fire hazard if there's a house fire and they can't find or can't get to the key for the deadbolts, which the dad keeps in his safe.

Is this something I should call CPS about?

Answer:
 IANAL, but I deal with fire Marshalls as part of my job.  Here in CA, this would never fly.

In a fire you panic, so the idea that you would "find another way" is a good way of someone dying.  (And the idea of taking a door off its hinges in an emergency situation is just as silly.)

Exiting a building in a fire is always supposed to be an expedient and easy process.  This is why buildings are required to have lighted exit signs, multiple exit routes, and panic bars on the doors.  In a fire the rule is GTFO.

Homes are exempted from some things such as exit signs (presumably the majority of people in the home already know the exits), and panic bars (that would be a security issue), but the GTFO rule is still in effect.  A deadbolt on the interior significantly hinders this.

To save both your siblings, and relationship with your parents, I would suggest a security system.  If your parents are the only ones with the code, they can set it for "stay" mode at night.  If the front door (or anything) gets opened the alarm goes off, alerting your parents the kids are sneaking out.  With this solution, everyone is still safe from fires, your parents can still keep the kids in the house, and added bonus you have a security system.Answer #2: If there is no way to egress it is illegal. It doesn't matter the age of the children. No egress=not legal


Title: My former boss from California is harassing me online (I live in Thailand)

Question:
Hello all lawyers. I need help for a legal problem I have.

I was harassed by my former manager at a State of California government agency about three years ago. I moved overseas to Thailand about 2 years ago to get away from him.

About a month ago, he sent me an e-mail, cc’d to the local newspapers in California and the higher level managers of the agency (the director and the assistant directors), demanding I stop helping a former coworker of mine with a lawsuit against him and the agency and to defend the agency or I would be punished. I haven’t talked to that coworker in about a year. I said no. He then sent another e-mail to the local newspapers with my social security number, my former home address in America, my looks, and how the social security number was run and discovered I’m a pedophile (which I am not. Are Social Security numbers even “tied” to any criminal databases?).

I ignored it, and he started filing police reports saying I’m stalking him. He would e-mail the reports to me, the local newspapers, and the managers and other office workers of the agency. Every time he would file a police report, he would send an e-mail saying things will get worse. The most recent report he filed and attached said I was seen threatening to kill my own including shaking him, saying I have to kill him because there’s a bomb on him, and other things because I suffer from PTSD while fighting in Iraq. That report was filed about a week ago. I was not in the military, I don’t suffer from PTSD, and I was not in California at the time. I do not know what the next report will be.

In the e-mails, the manager also said he will not face any legal problems because he is an officer of the government, and there is no punishment he can face. He also sent that e-mail to the local newspapers, and the department.

My question is this:

1. In America, was there any crime done against me?

2. In Thailand, I heard slander is punishable by jail time. Was this done “in Thailand” or “in America”? Should I contact a Thai lawyer? My in-laws know some lawyers in Thailand.

3. What type of damage was done to me?

4. What can I do to stop him from filing more police reports, or contacting the local newspapers asking for them to publish the reports publicly?

5. If this is a crime, and people on here think I should contact a lawyer, what would be the best way to explain this to a lawyer? Would I have to return to the USA to file charges or have a lawyer file a lawsuit?

Thank you!

Answer:
 IANAL, but based on my knowledge? He is harassing you from America, you need to contact an American lawyer - from California too.Answer #2: Not a Lawyer

Hire a US Lawyer to assist you.
1) He is Cyberstalking you http://www.shouselaw.com/cyberstalking.htmlAnswer #3: OP:

Get a Credit Freeze and review your credit information.

He has your SS number and he's distributed it willy nilly.


Title: (FL) Can an HOA force people who are not in the HOA to follow their rules/join them?

Question:
It's an old small town in North Florida, a lot of the houses are 50-100 years old. Our town technically is unincorporated, we only have the sheriffs department not a police force, a small fire department, no street lights.There's 7 house, built in ~2005, that are an HOA and want to force the whole town to join.

In 2005 a developer bought some land between the creek and the north part of the river(almost everyone else lives us south of the creek) he built 7 houses before the housing bubble collapsed, the state bought back the surrounding land. Most of the land here is either hunting land or under state protection.

Like I was saying its a small town. Most of us are pretty poor to be honest, we suffered a lot when the Economy went south, most families pull in $25,000(vs $45,000 before) the highest salary I know of someone getting is $60,000 aside from the people in the HOA all of them earn over $100,000(they commute to the closer cities).

Their HOA has very strict rules. All houses must be stucco, a certain color, no trucks or motorcycles, no vegetable gardens or fruit trees, along with noise restrictions, everyone must have a street light installed in front of their house and the usually crap about how long your grass can be and the dues are $250 a month.

They're bombarding people with pamphlets on why the whole town should join the HOA, they knock on people's doors and leave flyers on their cars. They've also started a petition when they realized that no one in town would sign they started to go into neighboring cities and get people there to sign(I think they paid them).

Are they allowed to bother people like that? What would that petition actually accomplish? Could it force us to join them? No one can afford $250 a month plus all the other crap.

Answer:
 Generally, you cannot be forced to join a HOA. I would be extremely surprised if they can force you to join. Answer #2: I think there must be an HOA management company behind this. There's no reason for those seven houses to care what the rest of the town does.Answer #3: Do the townsfolk outnumber the current HOA members?

Funny things can happen when you drastically change the membership of an organization which requires governance elections.Answer #4: They can't make you do shit. Tell them to go pound sand. Make sure your neighbors do too.Answer #5: *What is it* with HOAs?


Title: Father is a family lawyer. He lied about his income during his divorce with my mom.

Question:
Ontario Canada. My mother was going to the hospital for surgery on her back. My father (scum bag) gave her a note saying he's leaving her. After her surgery I took care of her and she left her job as a nurse and was put on disabilty. My father knowing the system and knowing she couldn't afford to go through his legal attack got everything. Thing is, she had enough money to serve him and it showed he claimed he only makes 9000$ as a family lawyer who owns his own private practice. He listed his practice to be worth 10,000$.

I know he makes well over this. I would say between 250-350k a year. I don't think he expected my mom to get the help in digging up the truth.

Here is a article I found that sounds similar to what's going on in my life currently http://legalblogs.findlaw.ca/legal-life/court-awards-ex-wife-house-because-husband-lied-about-income-815/

Should I be worried for my dad? Is he going to lose his ability to practice law? What should I be looking out for? Thank you for your time.

Answer: Your mother needs to consult a local attorney ( not her ex). Are they officially divorced?Answer #2: My mom's lawyer is who discovered this


Title: (Ca) involuntary hold. Whole process smelled fishy from start to finish. What can I do? Were laws broken? Help please :(

Question:
Throwaway for obvious reasons.

So almost two years ago my sibling had their "friend" call the cops on me, who blatantly lied to them saying I was aggressive/violent and that I had a knife on me (which is illegal in Cali if it's more than 2 inches I think.)

I know that he called because I saw him on the phone moments before I was stopped and searched and when I was thrown in the police car, I could read the report on the cop's laptop, which had my sibling's friend's statement and phone number.

Anyways, all I had on me was wallet and junk. Nothing, basically. The cop was asking, "where's the knife?" Lol I was like "what? Sir, I'm sorry you got dragged into this but I have no knife and I'm the calmest guy I know. Don't worry you have nothing to worry about with me."
Still he put me in zip ties and had me get in his car.

 Then we drove to my family's house at the time where my sibling and friend were waiting. officer goes outside to talk to them while I'm stuck in car and can't hear squat. After about ten minutes my father pulls up and right away joins the club and starts talking to the officer and they were smiling and chatting so I thought I'd be all good. Then my father comes to the window and the cop rolls down my window and I'm told "son I think the best thing for you is to go with this officer and get help." Me: "what? No, dad tell them the truth, this is all some drama fabricated by [sibling]." But my father already made up his mind. One moment I'm a free man with a bright future, and in the next I'm some labeled violent mental case with seemingly zero rights.

I kept thinking to myself "no way all it takes to get someone locked up is to have a couple people tell a story to a cop?" So I ended up asking the cop exactly this and he said "yeah, that's the world we live in, sorry bud. I believe you're alright and you seem normal but I have to follow these leads. If I get a call that someone is aggressive or a danger to themselves or others, i have to investigate. What if you end up being a danger and I was the one that let you go?" The obvious brain-dead response I got told me all I needed to know. I couldn't get myself out of this situation and I better comply and get out of it as soon as possible. I should've been angry, furious, livid, vengeful, etc. But all I could feel was betrayed, by my family, community, state and country. That pain is deep, I feel for you Julius Caesar. (Comedic relief here)

Anyways after thinking about the whole ordeal, stuff smells fishy.

For one, from the time the call to the cops was made to the time I was stopped was about thirty seconds. Basically, the cop was already right around the corner parked just waiting. Fiiiiishyyyyy.

Two, I had no say in the matter and showed no reason to believe I was anything but calm, and law-abiding.

Three, what the cop said doesn't resonante with what the law says he/she has to do in these situations (or am I completely off base with that one? Help legal )

Four: cop said to me "either you agree to go in voluntarily with me, or I take you in forcefully in handcuffs" wtf that's literally being forced either way...

Five: father used to be in the force, LAPD and knows people

Six: what reason did the cop have to take me???????? I still can't think of any... just based off the words of two family members???? Who each have their own mental problems? And I can't defend myself from their accusations?

Seven: I sign in voluntarily eventually with the cop present, and after a quick session with me, then my father and sibling separately, I'm put on an involuntary hold...

eight: around 3 am I'm woken up and transferred to another facility... wtf talk about sleep deprivation after an extremely stressful event

Nine: couldn't sleep for hours at new place cause they had to "process me" which they took their damn sweet time doing.

Ten: put in the more "serious" section of the ward... with people who are actually violent and I saw a guys blood all over the floor after getting hulk smashed by a giant dude. Like a gallon of blood it was disgusting and the lack of adequate care and response I saw administered after was shocking... these places did t care if we lived or died or were stable... saw these drugs eff people up ten times more...

Sorry some of this is off topic but i hope i have enough info to draw some conclusions. Anything illegal going on?

Edited out irrelevant paragraph.

Please help legaladvice, I need to know what to do and what I have a chance of winning. This whole mess has delayed so much of me getting a degree at an ivy and moving on with my life away from crazy family. And I don't even know if it will affect jobs, like working at NASA, dept of defense, google, Boeing, etc?
Also, what evidence would help me case, if I have one?

Sorry for the long post, appreciate any feedback :)

Answer:
 You need line breaks, a TL;DR, and probably therapy for what you've been through, if not any existing or imagined original issues.

Oh and just one question - a 72 involuntary hold is 72 hours. Why are you asking 2 years later?
Answer #2: After reading the novel here, nothing illegal happened that you stated.


Title: Can we sue our employer for failing to protect an 18 yr old girl from sexual harassment?

Question:
So I work at a restaurant in Missouri, family owned, pretty decent place.
This past Sunday we had a group of 3 guys come in right before we closed, our hostess (She's 18 yrs old and still in highschool) showed the guys to their table and before she left one of them decided it would be perfectly all right to grab her ass, then smack it as if to send her away for their server.

We had 2 of our managers there that night, only one was managing, the other was cooking.
The hostess came into the back visibly upset and crying, she went directly to the person managing that night.

The 'manager' then proceeded to go out and have a "stern" talking to with the guys, then acted like nothing at all happened.
She didn't kick them out, she didn't ban them, why? I can only assume because they were regulars.

Is there any legal recourse for this? I was under the assumption that your employer was supposed to protect and keep you in a safe work environment.

I would like to note that this advice is not for me, but for my friend and coworker, the hostess.

Answer: No, you cannot successfully sue your employer for this.


Title: (Miami, Florida) My husbands former employee is harassing me on Facebook and Instagram.

Question:
My husband fired a woman from his business about 6 months ago after he caught her stealing money.

She's taken to harassing me on Facebook and Instagram, she posts accusing me of being anorexic and underweight, calling me ugly and stupid.

I had my lawyer send her a cease and desist letter a week ago but she hasn't stopped and has gotten worse. My lawyers off for Thanksgiving until the 30th or I would just ask him.

What can be done if she doesn't stop? Does this count as defamation or slander?

Being on Facebook/Instagram and other social media is necessary to my job.

Answer:
 Block her. Answer #2: > What can be done if she doesn't stop?

Likely very little.  You could file a complaint about the harassment, but in many places it's unlikely that the police would bother to investigate it unless there have also been credible threats of violence.

> Does this count as defamation or slander?

Almost certainly not.  Calling someone ugly or stupid is almost always going to be protected by the first amendment as a statement of opinion and defamation requires false statements of fact, not opinion.  Calling someone anorexic is slightly less clear, but only slightly and given the context here I think it very likely that all of this woman's statements are protected statements of opinion under the first amendment.

The statements may still be harassment depending on how they are being delivered (public posts on her own wall are likely not actionable, but if she's sending direct messages to you privately or on your profile's wall that MIGHT be different), but your lawyer will be able to tell you more about that and you should ask them about it.


Title: Breaking and Entering/Attempted Sexual Assault

Question: Last night, two men my roommates split an uber with chased them upstairs and broke their way into our dorm. They didn't know I was also home. When I came out of my room into the shared space, they suddenly started yelling about money my roommates owed them (the two men refused to take my roommates' venmos). I made them leave the room and paid them $6. My roommate is pressing charges, and I was wondering if all four of us press charges (four of us live in this space, and were all impacted by the "breaking and entering," will it be worse for them? I don't think the two men chased my friends down and broke in for the $6 they "forgot" they wanted until they realized they weren't alone with two terrified girls, and they need to be stopped so they can't do this to other people. I've never had to press charges or have known anyone who has, please forgive me if I'm asking a stupid question.

Answer: Were the police called? None of you have the ability to press charges, that's up to a prosecutor.


Title: My heat just went out in my apartment on Christmas Eve and my landlord is saying he can't get anyone to fix it until Wednesday! It's freezing outside. Is that legal?!

Question: My heat went out about 2 hours ago, and I immediately called my landlord. At first he said he'd call me back and let me know when someone was coming. He never called back so I just called him a few minutes ago and now he's saying he can't get it fixed until Wednesday! Is that legal? It's freezing outside and this is not alright.

Answer:
 Your location is important, but generally you have to give the landlord a reasonable amount of time to fix a problem.

As inconvenient as it is, your landlord can't snap his fingers and fix the problem
Not being able to get a technician to fix the issue on Christmas day is pretty reasonable. Answer #2: You don’t say where you are, but in general the LL is allowed “reasonable “ time to correct the situation.  Reasonable is generally considered the next business day, possibly even the following business day.  So, if something happens, even no heat, on a Friday and no one can look until Monday, or even Tuesday, that is reasonable.  It is Christmas Eve.  No one will be working until Wednesday.

Do you have a space heater or two?
Fill your bathtub with hot water, it will help for a short time.
Addi, it won’t sink to below freezing in your home in a couple of hours, it could easily take a couple of days.

Will you be cooking?  Cooking will heat up the kitchen and surrounding rooms a bit.  Answer #3: Your landlord is not required to make the impossible happen. If there's nobody who will fix the heat until Wednesday, you can't hold him responsible for it. But you can call around and find someone who will do it, and deduct the cost from your rent.

If you can't find anyone, you can stay in a reasonably priced hotel and deduct the cost from you rent.

All the above is conditioned on the premises being too cold to live in.


Title: Suing the federal governmentWhen suing a department in the federal government do I list the United States government as a defendant or the actual department? (New York)

Question: When suing a department in the federal government do I list the United States government as a defendant or the actual department?

Answer: If you're planning on attempting a lawsuit against the federal government, but do not know the party to name, you probably would do be to invest in the services of an attorney.Answer #2: Are you trying to sue under FTCA? Have you already filed your SF 95? Submit an SF 95 before you try anything else. You are required to "exhaust your administrative remedies."Answer #3: You need a lawyer, this isn’t DIY territory.Answer #4: You either get a lawyer or you lose.


Title: Am I legally allowed to refuse to go to work tomorrow?

Question: I work at a car wash so I work outside. On weeks like this where it's not supposed to rain for awhile we are really busy and don't get to go inside at all except for our lunch (even inside its not air conditioned but there's a floor fan). Tomorrow there's an excessive heat warning, it's going to be 99 degrees F and the heat index will feel upwards of 105. I work for 9 hours tomorrow in this, am I legally allowed to tell my boss that I can't work in those conditions?

Answer:
 Sure. You’re also legally allowed to be fired for not going. Answer #2: Is the reason you can't work in those conditions related to your heart condition? Have you requested a *reasonable* accommodation for your health problem?Answer #3: Sure.

And they're legally allowed to fire you for it.


Title: Need some quick advice. Pizza driver stuck.

Question:
Morehead Kentucky. I ordered a pizza at my apartment. Guy came to deliver it and now is stuck in the drive way. The driveway is slick and he’s driving a rear wheel drive truck.  (We’ve had no problems getting up it). It’s going to have to be towed. Am I in anyway responsible for the tow bill. I feel like the pizza place should pay for it. He also stated he should have never came down it.
Edit: location

Update:
Thanks for the quick advice. He called dominos to see if they would pay for it. He had a previous insurance claim when his breaks went out, so they basically said if he has another claim he will lose his job. (I was with him while he was taking to them). Thought it was pretty shitty so I helped him pay for the tow, I felt bad. Ended up being a fairly expensive pizza!
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer: Yea you definitely would not be responsible. But props on helping the guy out on the tow bill. That's really cool of you.Answer #2: No, you won’t be responsible. It’s not your car.


Title: Natural born US citizen trying to sponsor mom for citizenship

Question:
Appreciate the help in advance, just gonna put this down as bullet points

* mom arrived in 1984 from Mexico (born citizen), she was 16
* crossed to CA then moved to IL, worked in the produce fields for a few months, then housekeeping (CA) and in fast food (IL)
* applied in 1999 with my dad (non-citizen as well) for asylum, moved but got mailed forwarded, went back for follow-up appt, next letter never came so they missed their court date which marked them as "on the run" or the like
* they didn't know that til my dad got arrested and detained in 2002(noncriminal reasons, they were just looking for him), dad got deported a few weeks later
* so at this point in 2002, mom sells everything, packs us three US kids and we leave with dad so the family stays together.
* few months later, kids go back to states, mom crosses over illegally again a few weeks later
* 2012, ICE comes to door, tells my mom that they can arrest her there so she can promise to come to a court date a few months down the line.  She agrees to the latter, but misses court date and flees instead out of state

Now I'm wondering how I can sponsor her so she can become a citizen, was going to in 2012 but wasn't 21 yet by the time then ICE came to the door.  Now trying to revisit the idea, does she have to go to Mexico for me to apply for her?  If so, for how long?  If we apply here in the States, does she have to declare something or show proof of something?

Once again, all help appreciated on this.  And we are speaking to lawyers soon, consultation dates are already set up just wanting to get an idea on answers in the meanwhile.

Answer:
 You could, provided you meet the criteria for sponsorship.

However, at this point, she may be banned from entering the US.  Even if not, she's been deported multiple times and continually returned.  She's fled justice.  She's shown continual and repeated disregard for the laws and courts of the US: not exactly an excellent immigration resume in a competitive market.  I would be very, very surprised if she is eligible at this point.

You need absolutely the best lawyer you can find.  Expect to pay, it's unlikely that you will qualify for (already overbooked) immigration aid services.

If they tell you it's basically throwing away money...believe them.

And yes, I would expect she would have to return to Mexico, and possibly for a decent amount of time.  Probably not a good idea to let ICE know that she's ignored the laws of the US *again* and *recently*.


Title: Canada, Alberta - Mouse found in toilet

Question: I opened up my toilet today, and I found a little mouse swimming in the toilet. I called my landlord and she said that I had to remove it at my own expenses and I said I'm not touching it. So she came by and had one of her children remove it. She berated me for it. She said I should be embarrassed that a child is removing it and I'm not.

Answer:
 Your toilet is a portal to another dimension and the mouse arrived via a wormhole.

The good news is that all of these portals are equipped with a little handle on the upper left side of the tank that will transport the mouse away, Star Trek style. Close the lid and press the handle down. You'll hear a "swooshing" sound. Wait ten seconds and you'll find that the mouse is gone, having been transported to the planet Xenu.

If you keep the lid down, this is a signal to the intergalactic network that your portal is offline and not ready to receive mice. This should help to eliminate recurrence.  Answer #2: And?


Title: Sneaking into a movie that you did not pay for.. rather, you paid for another movie of the same price. What happens if you get caught?

Question:
Alright, perhaps this was a no-no, but a while back me and my friend wanted to see an R rated horror movie. Us teens being, well, teens, we obviously didn't want our parents there, so they dropped us off at the movie theatre. We know that they wouldnt give us a ticket for said movie, but we instead bought a ticket for another movie. The R-rated movie was 10.00, and there were other prices, some as low as 5.00. However, we tried to make honest of the situation and even bought two 11.00 tickets for a different movie. We get our popcorn and go up to the teller. He pointed to the theatre the tickets wanted us to go to, however when the teller was preoccupied by a fussy, large family full of whiny kids, we snuck into the R-rated movie and had no problems. We walked out behind an elderly couple who I suppose the teller thought was our grandparents.

Though, that was in Pennsylvania. A new friend of mine, we live in Texas, and we want to see another R-rated movie. We plan on buying tickets of equal value, but now I am afraid that we could get caught. So, my question is, If you *do* get caught, what happens? Could you get arrested? Pay a fine? Or do they just kick you out?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 You're not the first or last teenager to think of this trick. I did it with my friends several times when I was younger, and I did get caught once. They just kicked us out and didn't refund our money. I can't imagine they would call the police over something like that, but who knows. People seem a lot less forgiving of teenage hijinx than they were 15 years ago.Answer #2: I work at a movie theatre, sometimes as an usher. 98 percent of the time I don't give a damn but my manager just makes me kick you out of the theatre with no refunds.

Also my manager only cares because in case of an emergency, we'll know exactly how many people are in each theatre during an evacuation.


Title: Friend is being assaulted by her ex (bleeding eye etc...) but the cops don't charge him.

Question: I'm seeing her and there has been many incidents where her ex husband (going through divorce) throws her up against the wall, chokes her, hits her etc. She called the cops a few weeks back and they said the next time they'll press charges. Well this morning she gets woken up to him hovering over her bed throwing her around and hit her in the eye. It's been bleeding all day. I told her to call the same cops because they said they'd charge him next time but they didn't!! What can she do to protect herself and get this evil s.o.b. away from her and her children? Waterloo Ontario.

Answer:
 How much time passes between the alleged attack and her calling the police?

Have you seen any of this, or is she telling you this?


Title: Friend scammed me for $9k, told me to say card got stolen and now 6 months later I am having to pay it off each month. I don’t want to do this anymore. Is it too late to do anything about it

Question:
This January of 2019 i was hanging with some friends, one of them asked me if I was tryna help him move some cash, said he needed it transferred didn’t give me much detail other than he does it all the time and that he would give me a cut. All my friends with me were trying to do it but I was the only one with Wells Fargo which was what he needed. His his name is Alex. I give Alex all my bank info and then a few hours later he had his friend Q come down from “LA” to come get my card. I live in San Diego.

Same night Q goes to deposit a fake check for 9k into my account. Next morning the money is available before it gets bounced and someone(q or someone he sent) goes and makes $2000 withdrawals from multiple branches with my card. He had no id. Doesn’t know any of my security questions. They still give him the money.

At the same time this is all happening im tripping about what’s happening having immediate regret I hit up Alex the night I give Q my card and tell him I don’t want anything to do with it and he says ok just say your card got stolen. So I go in next morning saying exactly that but by the time I get there there’s only $2k left. The banker says if my card went missing to file a police report. I tell Alex and he says the guy q must have taken it out and ran off. I go to Alex’s he calls q and q says he gave my card to someone else who withdrew the money and that guy ran off.

6 months later -$7.3k hits my aunts bank account who lives in Italy, she has no idea what’s going on, I tell my mom(her sister) and she comes up with a bs story and helps me open an account where I have 15 months to pay off the 7.3k. It’s 500 a month and I’m already trying to get by as it is going to school and living in a garage... not to mention I just lost my job now that the debt hits obviously...

Is it too late to do anything...my only suggestions have been to make a police report.... I’ve been manipulated by police before in a way where they don’t try to figure out what actually happened they just tried to get me to admit guilt for something I didn’t know anything about.... but at this point I feel like I’m already suffering the consequences and have nothing to lose but time... I feel like I know enough about this kid Alex to get him looked at but are the police really gonna do anything... I could really use some direction here because most of these scams I hear/read about usually involve the victim not knowing that scammer at all...
Thank you

TLDR; friend set me up with a fake check scam, while I would like this financial burden off my back, I would also be satisfied if my “friend” could suffer the consequences behind bars for bank fraud and using my trust in him to get me involved.

Pms welcomed

Answer:
 You participated in major fraud.

You have nothing else to lose but time? By "time" do you mean time in prison? Because if so, that's not accurate because you can go to prison *and* have some hefty financial penalties thrown on top.

If you choose to go to the police and give a full confession, expect to be charged with several different crimes and to do some time behind bars. You need to hire an attorney asap and get their advice on moving forward. Stop talking to anyone about this.

And by "PMs welcomed" you mean "PMs not welcomed at all because I read, understand, and want to be in compliance with the rules of this sub," right?Answer #2: You participated in bank fraud.  I wouldn’t go to the police with talking to a criminal defense attorney first.


Title: I think my neighbor is abusing his dog. What do I do?

Question:
So I just moved into a new apartment last week, and our apartment complex has zones for cat owners and dog owners and we live in the dog owner area. Since we've moved we've heard the dog across the hall Yelp and cry (what sounds like in pain) on several occasions and what sounds like banging. Yesterday I heard a loud thump come from their apartment and it freaked out my dogs.

Today I heard the same sounds and ran to the door and looked through the peephole and saw what looked like my neighbor throwing his German Shepherd puppy outside. The dog yelped and fell on his back. I don't know what to do. The neighbor left him outside and later went to grab the dog. I tried recording through the peephole but I only got a shot of him bringing the dog back from outside. I don't know what to do without any proof, but I'm afraid of something happening to the dog. What do I do? Do I file some sort of police report? I told my wife and she thinks we should tell management, but I don't know if that will do anything for the dog.
Topic:
Douche

Answer: Call animal control and tell them you suspect animal abuse.


Title: Mother has been the target of repeated petty crimes

Question:
Throughout the past several months, my mom (who lives in Maryland) had said her car was scratched with a key, a nail was stuck in her tire, and a metal rod was put in her air conditioning to make it stop working. All those incidences have happened multiple times, to the point where my mom doesn't dare park her car outside the garage anymore. I'm in college right now, so I haven't been home to witness anything. Today, the word "bitch" was written in chalk three times on her door.

My mom and dad are divorced, and my dad's recent ex-girlfriend/wife, let's call her Agnes, had been consistently texting my mom things like "you're so ugly", "look at the good life I have with [my dad]", "you will always be an old hag that no one likes", etc without my dad's knowledge. Once I found out and told my dad, he set out to make Agnes leave. She is from China and got married to get her green card, so my dad wanted to let that process happen before kicking her out, but she refused to leave. When she went to China for a few weeks, my dad changed his locks.

While Agnes was in China, my mom said nothing had happened to her. We've thought long and hard about who else might have such a grudge against her and also knows her address, and couldn't think of anyone. We don't have definitive evidence that it's Agnes, so what is our best course of action here?

Answer:
 Cameras are cheap.

File police reports as appropriate- video footage will help the case.Answer #2: Cameras are the answer.


Title: Can a person legally protect his/her assets in a divorce by registering them under the name of their parents (such they don't technically own the assets) ?

Question:
Let me explain it with a simple example :

John owns $1 million in assets (all properties) and decides to list them under a private company , X Ltd. In addition to that , 99.99% of the ownership of the company is registered under the name of his parents (on paper) , and he technically owns just 0.01% of the company shares. Soon after that he gets married.

Fast forwarding 5 years , the value of his assets has grown to $5 million and his wife wants a divorce. The court has ordered an assessment of his net worth for an asset split , and to their surprise , he is worth only $500 (0.01% of $5 million). The majority of his assets are actually 'owned' by his parents.

Therefore , none if his assets are up for split since his wife is actually worth more than $500. Same applies to alimony. And even if she wants to take a part of his assets , she can take whatever she wants out of the $500. John's parents have made it pretty clear that they have no interest in parting with their share of assets and are legally protected to do so.

My question here is - can something like this be legally pulled off in the real world ? Can something as simple as registering your assets under the name of a representative (e.g , parents) protect them from divorce ?

I'm trying to understand the legal implications of such a case and the extent to which the law exists. Any response will be highly appreciated !

Answer:
 This is called fraudAnswer #2: You repeatedly us the term "his assets", that are "under the name of his parents".

If they're his assets then they are his, and are relevant to his divorce.

If he's trying to hide his assets by putting them in someone else's name to avoid his legal obligations then that's just plain old fraud.Answer #3: I made this question without much detail before, answers I got is "This is fraud"

I saw your comments denying this, and it's still fraud. Even though the assets are on someone else's name an investigation can be ordered by the judge and if determined fraud, the assets would be considered the husband's assets.

Maybe there would be a loophole, but this would mean the husband will never get back the assets to his name because if they do, this would be the fraud.


Title: Wrongful arrest due to incorrect bench warrant despite showing police my nolle prosequi (Georgia)

Question:
TL;DR Police arrested me twice on paperwork errors and the most recent time I showed them the paperwork saying their warrant was invalid but they arrested me anyways.

In March of 2015, I was pulled over on a routine traffic stop due to the decal of my car registration being old. I showed the Police officer proof that I had paid the car registration and that the decal was just in the mail. He then arrested me for driving on a suspended license. I told him there must be some mistake because my license is valid. I was arrested anyways and  was stuck in jail for 14.5 hours. When released, I got my full driving record proving that my license had never been suspended and that case was dropped April of this year with a nolle prosequi. I got my $2000 bail back and lost $686 plus the cost of a lawyer but thought the issue was resolved.

Last Friday, police showed up at my house unannounced to arrest me due to a bench warrant for missing the above court case. I explained to them that the arrest was invalid, I had been to court, and the case was dismissed. I then showed them both the nolle prosequi and the bail receipt proving the case was dropped and that I was represented at court. I also offered to pull up my driving record and other saved info on my laptop (they didn't allow this). They said that was up to a judge and they couldn’t do anything about it and took me to jail yet again. This time bail was $5290 and I was in jail for 6.5 hours.

My theory is that duplicate sets of paperwork were generated from the same incident, causing duplicate cases to be generated. Does it seem like I would be able to sue for wrongful arrest or imprisonment? At this rate, I'm just tired of being arrested for paperwork errors and terrified of police ambushing me yet again to take me to Fulton county jail (which is the most wretched place I've been). I have already contacted a couple of lawyers and am waiting to hear back but am curious what people here think and what advice they have going forward.
Topic:
Constitution

Answer:
 Arguably you could have a fourth amendment claim for unlawful search and seizure.  There is a lot that goes into a suing a public entity, and in most cases you would have to show that this wasn't a discrete event but rather a pattern and practice of the police.  Make sure to check your state's rules regarding suing public entities as there are often limitations and hoops you have to jump through to be able to file suit.  Answer #2: Your beef is with the court or the agency that enters it into the system (in Michigan it can be either).

You probably need a lawyer to help fix this, and you might have actual damages against the court (as in court staff, not the judge for making a judicial decision, rather court stuff for being negligent in maintaining records).Answer #3: While generally I wouldn't be optimistic of recovering any damages due to an arrest cock-up, the ridiculous 1-2 nature of this mistake with the second arrest may be sufficient.

Let's see what the lawyers you contacted say.  Even if you win, what are your damages?  20 hours of time in jail and possibly a bail bond fee?


Title: Magistrate fabricated things in the finding of facts after my trial. [OH]

Question:
I was assaulted by my ex who fled the scene. We both went through domestic violence court. He claimed that I assaulted him and that he didnt know where all of my bruises came from. The police report corroborated that I had several injuries and he had none. The case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence of him committing the crime. He then sued me in court for all of the money he had given me while we were together, first claiming that I stole it and then claiming that it was a loan. I hired an attorney and so did he.

I had given my attorney a mountain of evidence to show that we had both exchanged money, gifts and favors while we were together. Many of which were emails and text messages spelling out that fact that this was a usual occurrence between us and both of us had equally contributed things of value (money, material gifts, financial support, etc) throughout the duration of our relationship. However, my attorney (against my instruction) did not submit this evidence to the courts when these issues were brought up by the opposing side because he was certain the magistrate was not listening to the testimony of my ex or his attorney if they did not have evidence to support their ridiculous claims. I had witnesses who were also present and ready to testify against my ex about the things he said that directly mentioned them, but my attorney also chose not to use them. This alarmed me, as I would assume that listening to both sides is the magistrate's job regardless if the evidence is there or not. I began to call around for another attorney to take the case after the first day of trial but could not find one willing to do so since trial had already started.

The magistrate ended up ruling against us, and she based her decision on several of the things that I had made ready for my attorney the evidence, witnesses and testimony to refute or disprove. I was definitely upset about this since his reason for not following through was that he assumed the magistrate could not take his claims into consideration without evidence. She ended up siding with my ex on virtually everything he said even though I had given my attorney what was needed to prove that 95% of what he was saying were outright lies. I ended up having to pay my ex thousands of dollars for him to recoup the value of his gifts while I received nothing of the same.

At one point the opposing attorney even knowingly allowed my ex to perjure something that happened in the domestic violence case and the transcripts of that trial prove it since his attorney also represented him in that case.

However, what I'm now heavily concerned about is that these very lies (which are quite slanderous) are what the magistrate listed in her "findings of fact". One of which is that she accused my of stealing my exes car. When I read this my jaw dropped, as no one had mentioned or even implicated anything to this affect during trial. The magistrate quite literally made this up and it is now sealed in a legal document against me even the I have a video of the entire trial proving that no one even claimed these things. I'm worried that should anything serious happen in the future, that this magistrate's decision full of false "facts" could be used against me.

I submitted a complaint to my local bar association and included the references to the violations of their policies of ethics and conduct for them to investigate, but the response that I received was essentially "we see no problem with any of this".

&#x200B;

I realize that there are multiple levels of professional drops of the ball in this case, but do I have any other recourse that I'm unaware of? I still have all of the evidence that proves my case even though the case is done, as well as video of the trial that shows the magistrate fabricated many things in her FoF.  I feel as though my reputation has been marred by this magistrate and no one here seems to know what to do about this since the bar has chosen not to act on the issue. I contacted someone in ABA who said that bringing this to the attention of my state representatives may work, but I'm unsure if this is even within their scope.

&#x200B;

Any insight or help is appreciated.

Answer: I skimmed this but your only option is to appeal if you are even still within the period.  You can do this pro se and lose or you can spend a ton of money in an attorney and lose,  findings of fact will be upheld if there is any evidence in the record to support them and you yourself seem to describe the opposing party testifying in accordance with the findings.  The trier Of fact determines credibility and an appellate body wont overturn that determination.


Title: My boss is telling me I need to work shifts that I requested off and was improved for 2 months later.

Question:
I booked a couple days off in May to go to a music festival with friends at the start of August. My boss said I could have those days off and is now telling me I need to work those shifts, or I’ll most likely be fired (I assume).

Is there anything I can do? I paid for the festival ticket which is non refundable and I also paid partially for an AirBnB($100) between my friends.

Answer: Yes, unless you have an employment contract he can set and reset your schedule


Title: My boyfriend killed himself and now I don't know what to do

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 I'm sorry for your loss.

If he left no will, then anything he left belongs to his family.  On the positive side, you aren't responsible for any of his debts, either.

Who is on the lease?  One of you, both of you?Answer #2: I can't see as there's anything _to_ do, unless his family took your possessions, or unless he left you property in his will. I'm sorry for your loss - but as a girlfriend, you don't have any special _legal_ relationship that would entitle you to his assets or, conversely, require you to settle his affairs.

Given that the lease wasn't in your name, your tenancy will likely be ending shortly. If you want to take it over, talk to the landlord - but with the rent outstanding, that's likely not going to go well. The good news is that if the lease isn't in your name and you walk away, you generally shouldn't be on the hook for that rent: it's your boyfriend's estate, not you, that would take care of that.Answer #3: Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do and nothing for you to do. You just have to walk away and move on with life.

By the way, the death certificate is filed by the medical examiner with the state. There is nothing for the family to do in that regard.


Title: Neighbor fixing cars on his front lawn and on both sides of the street.

Question:
My neighbor directly across from me is running a car repair business on his front lawn, on the street across from my driveway and on the street a few feet away from my driveway.

The neighbor operates it from 5am until 10pm (sometimes 11pm) every day. He has 6 men work on these vehicles. They eat and throw trash every where since his garbage can is filled the same day the trash is collected.

He started out on his front lawn with 3 cars. Now there are 10 cars on the front lawn (he has a fence so we don't know what's in his backyard), 2 on my side of the street and 3 on his side of the street. 2 of the cars in the street are on jacks. There are 5 cars on jacks for weeks at a time, fluids leaking in the street and large stains outside of my driveway.

2 weeks ago me and my neighbors began finding snakes on our properties. Snakes can be seen crawling on his property since he can no longer cuts his grass due to all the cars that don't work.

An exterminator has come out twice to treat but he said unless he treats his snakes it will do no good for him to keep coming out. I'm out of $400 and still have snakes crawling on my front lawn. I'm afraid to let my kids go outside in fear they maybe bit.

Yesterday the neighbor next door said he saw rats on top of his overfilled garbage can. I don't want to deal with rat too.

Last week one of my kids called me at work because he parked a car in my driveway and one of "his workers" was repairing it. I called the police. When they came out he moved the car and they left.

The next day the same thing happened. I called the police and they called a tow truck. The car was towed and he was upset that I called the police on him again. I asked the officer what about the cars on jacks with the hoods up parked on the street. He said it was a city enforcement issue then left.

We live in a busy residential area with a good amount of traffic. Since the cars are double parked only one car at a time can pass. The garbage person has to park and pull trash cans to the truck. Delivery people like Fed Ex and UPS have park and walk.

Me and other neighbors called city code enforcement, the State to report the illegal business, the mayor's office and every law enforcement agency in the area. All they do is hand him summons or ticket and give him so long to move the cars that don't work - even the ones on the street on jacks.

What legal action can be taken against this neighbor for his car repair business? Can I sue him for the cost of snake (now possibly rat) removal? Is there anything we can file to stop his car repair business?

Answer:
 You could sue him for nuisance, and possibly unfair business practices. What you are looking for is an injunction, a court order telling him to stop. You don't have very much in monetary damages. You should at least consult with a local attorney before proceeding to estimate your chances of success; perhaps you and your neighbors could join together to split costs of hiring a lawyer.

Separately, how much are you following up with the city? Calling every day? Obviously trying to use the city bureaucracy has not been successful so far, but perhaps more persistence will be rewarded if the lawsuit route isn't desirable or likely to be successful.  Answer #2: Along with all the other advice, check zoning laws.Answer #3: Does the neighborhood own or rent? Is neighbor's homeowners insurance aware that a business with 6 employee s is operating in a home and front yard? If they become aware of this, they will almost certainly cancel the insurance.Answer #4: Howdy,

Contact the EPA regarding this. Especially if you have evidence of oil and gas leaking into the ground. They are very strict and while they may not stop him, they will investigate and issue fines of several thousand dollars for improperly handling waste materials from the vehicles. Answer #5: Get cameras. Wyze cameras are cheap.

Get a couple of these...
https://www.wyzecam.com/product/wyze-cam-v2/

and a couple of these...
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V5Q1K3O/

File a complaint EVERYDAY and send them copies of the videos and/or links to youtube after you upload.
Be the squeaky wheel.


Title: Traveling with Firearm from New England to NC

Question:
Hello,
Im a liscensed-to-carry firearm owner and am traveling through several states that do not honor my permit and may not even allow legal ownership of my particular carry weapon.
My question is this: What is the best way to transport my firearm during my travels so as to avoid any legal trouble?
States I'll travel through of particluar concern are CT, NY and MD

Answer:
 You'd be protected by FOPA (Firearm Owners Protection Act):

Keep it unloaded in a case as separate as possible from the passengers.

Keep ammo separate.

Don't stop in a state where the gun or magazines are illegal or a state where a permit to possess is required.Answer #2: How are you traveling?  Generally, if you are driving, you can transport the firearm locked and unloaded in your trunk, through states you are not licensed, as long as you are authorized to have it at your point of origin and at your destination.  You cannot stay overnight in any state you are not licensed.  You can also fly with the firearm as long as you check it and declare it to the airline.

For a more detailed answer, you can review [The NRA's Guide to the Interstate Transportation of Firearms](https://www.nraila.org/articles/20150101/guide-to-the-interstate-transportation)

Edit to add: You may consider posting over at r/guns as well.  That community is generally incredibly responsible and well versed on gun laws.


Title: Neighbor Tree Blocking My View

Question: I have an Ocean View in Redondo Beach, CA.  My neighbor who had an issue with my father (now deceased) purposely planted a tree to block his view.  Which is now my view and quickly diminishing.  We've tried all neighborly things like asking them to trim the tree and also offering to pay.  The tree is serving no purpose to them.  Do I have any legal rights at all?

Answer:
 They can grow a tree on their property if they want.

You are welcome to sell your house and buy one with a better view.


Title: How far can police stretch exigent circumstances?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 It does not sound like they stretched an exigency at all.

Jesus dude, you're lucky to not be dead.  You need to be focused on getting yourself help for what seems to be a drinking problem.

I don't see any issue with what the officers did here, unless there are some facts you're leaving out.


Title: Sister totalled uninsured car, should she pursue legal action?

Question:
First time posting here. Asking on behalf of my sister, who is currently 6 months pregnant.

She's recently moved to Maryland (about 4 months), and had not gotten the car insurance sorted out prior to this incident.

While my sister was driving to the store, a man drove across 3 lanes of traffic, cut her off, and she crashed into a (large) curb in front of a carwash. Airbags were deployed, and her car was totalled. The man who caused the accident did not stop. There were witnesses who she says saw everything, and agree that she was not at fault. They helped her while she waited for her fiancée to come take her to the hospital.

She has airbag burns on her arms, and is complaining of pain in her sternum. The first hospital she went to could only do a Doppler for the baby (they found a heartbeat, and said it sounded okay). She's on her way to another hospital that can monitor her+baby, and check for broken bones.

**The issue**: I've told her that after she's been seen by a doctor, she should file a police report and start the process of trying to track the guy who caused the accident down. She's worried that because she was driving without insurance, there's nothing that they could/would do to help her, and that she would be stuck with heavy fines on top of losing her car.

 I hate the thought of someone hurting my sister and my fetus- nibling, and nothing being done about it. It could have been so much worse. Any advice? Would it be better for her to pursue this, or let it slide?

Answer: Does she have the plate of the car who hit her? Because without that she has absolutely no chance of finding whoever it was.Answer #2: I really hope this is a wake up call for her to get insurance. Setting up a policy takes <1 hour. She should get higher than the minimums required and uninsured motorist coverage.


Title: [VA] My friend keeps telling me I was raped, and is trying to leverage this for personal gain (spoiler alert: I wasn't)

Question:
This could get complicated but I will try and keep this simple.

Back in December I was at a party at a friend's house and ended up imbibing heavily on alcohol and some drugs. At some point during this night another party guest (Choreographer from here on out) had sex with me in my personal vehicle. This person is not someone I really care to spend any time with or find in anyway sexually attractive (not certain this is relevant). While I was heavily intoxicated I do remember being asked for consent at least once and responding affirmatively. The next morning I had some recollection of the night's events and we didn't speak about it much. I was pretty happy to not think about it too much except for the Choreographer telling many people in our friend group of our rendezvous.

A few months later the host of said party was talking to me about some unrelated events and casually mentioned me sleeping with Choreographer and my initial confusion (I didn't remember that it had happened at first) made her think I had been raped. This is complicated by the fact that we are all apart of the same university theatre production (I've since graduated). Despite telling the host that while I think Choreographer's behavior was in poor judgement I don't believe I was raped and wanted to simply go about my life, the host, thinking they were helping has told several people I was raped and is now pressuring me to write a statement to the faculty sponsor of the club to prevent Choreographer from ever rejoining this group. I don't wish this to go any farther because:

 * 1) I don't wish to cheapen the word "rape" or divert important resources to investigate this incident

 *  2) The Host's recent request only happened after the choreographer left the production and I suspect the Host waited because of the inconvenience of finding a new choreographer.

 *  3) I have graduated and would like to focus my intention on fixing my other issues rather than this one that, until recently, was not keeping me up at night.

TL;DR: I was told I was raped, I disagree with this assessment. Busybodies are trying to move it forward without me.

That being said my questions are these:

*  1) I was warned that if this gets beyond this group and gets to a mandated reporter or Title IX that it could get turned around on me and I could get accused of the rape

*  2) Despite my disdain for the Choreographer I don't wish for any criminal investigation or conduct investigations to continue, will the university or police take my wishes into account?

Answer:
 I do think choreographer should be informed. It is his name and reputation being slandered. Anyone could tell more and more people and could damage his job and social prospects. Very clearly no rape happened and people are being told it did. Choreographer should be informed. Answer #2: > I was warned that if this gets beyond this group and gets to a mandated reporter or Title IX that it could get turned around on me and I could get accused of the rape

I feel this part of your post has not been adequately addressed. If you do think there is a serious possibility that the other person will accuse you of rape, it may be in your best interest to report this incident first, especially since, as you say, while her actions may not have constituted rape  in your eyes, it was still short of being fully consensual.

If she reports you to the school as having raped her, this could cause serious problems for you up to and including your degree potentially being revoked. It's unlikely that any criminal prosecution against you would prevail, but university "judicial" systems usually require a much lower burden of proof than actual courts.

With situations like this it is often the case that the first person to report is far more likely to be believed, so if she accuses you of raping her it could be very difficult for you to prove your innocence, whereas if you reported her first you're far more likely to be in the clear.


Title: Husband put in 2 weeks notice, company is now refusing to pay the vacation days he took.

Question:
My husband has worked at his company for 3.5 years and has accrued 2 weeks paid vacation. Well they approved it, and he just got back yesterday.  He put in his 2 weeks notice today and now they're telling him he's not getting paid for the days he took, that they were just days off and not paid days. They're telling him he has to find his own documentation.  Is this legal?
Topic:
Employment Law

Answer:
 Is there any documentation that the days he wasn’t at work were Paid Leave? Like a request form, text, email, etc? Answer #2: Who the heck knows without a location.Answer #3: Does he get 2 weeks per year, or did he accrue or roll over 2 weeks of earned vacation before he took the vacation ?

In general you accrue proportionally throughout the year;  if he gets 2 weeks per year he has only accrued 1 and 1/6 weeks by the end of July.   So he may have used "anticipated accrued" vacation time and not be due that part of the wages.

Indiana considers accrued vacation to be compensation due the employee, but an employer may have a "use it or lose it" policy, or have a written forfeiture policy.

>They're telling him he has to find his own documentation

They're basically saying "you will have to sue us to force us to disclose our policies".    I don't think that's illegal by itself;  I'm unaware of an Indiana statute that explicitly requires an employer to provide written copies of their policies.    It's obviously a good idea and receipt/acknowledgement is part of every employee orientation or handbook I've ever seen.   But I don't think it's mandatory like the wage and overtime and OSHA posters are.

Certainly if he made a wage claim it would be the employer's burden to prove that they have a written forfeiture policy.


Title: [NYC] My mother is refusing to pay rent for her apartment. Will she go to jail if sued by landlord?

Question: My mother hasn't not been paying rent for her 1br apartment in Brooklyn for the last 5-6 months. She is refusing to pay and wants to sue the landlord because she thinks the apartment has lead and other chemicals that caused her health issues. Also she won't mention but I think she is struggling financially which is another reason why the rent hasn't been paid. Landlord calls me every week because I used to live in the apartment a few years ago but the apartment lease always been on my mother's name. I told the landlord to stop calling me because I don't live there anymore but they keep calling me. I told my mother to come live with me in another state and she agreed but she needs to end the lease first. I can't help her pay her current balance as I have my own bills. Also I did notice her apartment smells strange. Is there a service that can check the apartment for any hazards?

Answer:
 Nonpayment of rent due to hazards only works in certain very limited circumstances.

One of the requirements for it to work is that the tenant has to show they have actually kept the money in an account and are able to pay once the conditions are fixed. It sounds like your mom won't be able to show that. Answer #2: non payment of rent is a civil matter, not a criminal one, so she cannot go to jail

she certainly can be evicted, have her credit trashed, and have a very very hard time renting a new place with an eviction on her record


Title: Name change petition was not denied, but my waive for publication was denied... what do I need to do to get it waived?

Question:
So long story short I'm changing my last name to break away from my father who's abusive and violent.

TLDR: he's beat my mom and violently hit her multiple times. He's super conservative and doesn't want "bastard children" and he got super upset when he heard I'm changing my name. I mentioned leaving my city and starting new somewhere else and he said He'd get "his friends" to find me... He's also threatened to have my grand parents killed. He did 5 years in prison for dealing high volumes of drugs. He's provided drugs for my mom throughout my life to keep her in control or something... and he's had other run-ins with the law.

I presented evidence of his original drug trafficking charge, mentioned in a detailed note about his abusive behavior and that he threatened to kill my grand parents. This wasn't good enough apparently, I can either publish my name change or have a hearing. I'm torn... how do I go about making a case with very little evidence? what do I need to do to appease the court to allow this?

I just want my own life and I want my father to fuck off and for him to never find me and I don't ever want to be reminded of him when I read my current nasty ass last name... help me?

I live in the state of Nevada
Topic:
Douche

Answer:
 >for him to never find me

Absent some permnanet witness protection or going fully off the grid this is never going to happen if he wants to look hard enough.

The court will keep a record of your name change (and part of the purpose of the publication requirement) is so that your creditors can find you.

Publish and move on is probably the best bet.  You are welcome to consult with some local NV counsel to get a better feel for it, but absent some truly exceptional causes it's unlikely that the record will be sealed or that the publication requirement of a name change will be waived.


Title: [CO] My medical marijuana license is expired, can I legally apply for a firearm license? (x-post r/COents)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Do you still use marijuana?

The question asks about drug use, not a medical license.


Title: Can the tenant sue the landlord for a house fire that was called unsuspicious by fire marshals and the cause of the fire still undetermined?

Question:
ONTARIO CANADA
Topic:
Canada

Answer: The tenant should call the agency they got their renters insurance from, and let them handle it.


Title: [CANADA/QUEBEC] New tenant moved in a week ago. After having some doubts and double checking, she lied about her employer and gave us a fake ID. What do I do next?

Question:
Hi all,

Long story short : My father has a new tenant in an apartment he just bought.

I received a copy of the tenant's file and lease and some things made me suspicious, so I googled her, and she has ZERO online presence.

OK, it is possible, although rare for a 28 years old... But seeing how she gave us checks on her boyfriends name, I decided to check further.

I called a friend who works for the employer she mentioned. Turns out, she doesn't work there...

Even more suspicious now, I ask her for an ID for our files. She sends me a photo of her driving licence. It looks very real to me, so I'm relieved at first, but check it anyway on the [SAAQ website](https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/online-services/citizens/checking-validity-drivers-licence/) and get : *The driver's licence number entered cannot be found in our records.*

I called the SAAQ and they confirmed this licence does not exist.

What do I do now? Her ID looks VERY VERY real, and I'm now afraid they might be involved in some criminal activities.

Should I get the police involved? Should I contact our lawyer? I doubt I should confront her...

Advice please?

Thanks,

Simo

EDIT : Another question, my friend who gave me the employer info isn't supposed to do this. Should I say it to the police anyway?

Answer:
 You should call the police about the fraudulent information provided to secure housing.  They may investigate further and press charges.  Eviction would come down the road.

Do not confront the person.  They are living in your house, and you do not know who they actually are.  If they mess up your property, you won't be able to track them down easily.


Title: (AB Canada) Buyer bought business, now backing out.

Question:
May 15th, buyer closed on the sale of my business.  As per the contract we fired all the employees, closed all of our accounts befoer the closing date.  Cheque for sale never arrived and she informed us this week that she will no longer be buying the business.

I am speaking to a lawyer next week but wanted to get some thoughts on this.

Answer:
 Blink.  You are selling your business but you don’t already have an attorney?

This scenario sounds like an absolute breach, but only your attorney will be able to review the terms of your contractual agreement and decide how material and/or if the withdrawal is legitimate.  Sounds like grounds for a promissory estoppel action, ask your attorney.


Title: Spousal support form for cohabitation agreement

Question:
Is it normal to fill out a a portion of a spousal support form as part of a cohabitation agreement where the purpose is to keep assets, liabilities separate and not have to pay one or the other support?

I'm moving in with my girlfriend of 7 months, who just bought a house, obviously and fairly she wants to ensure that her assets are protected. her stated intention is to keep our finances separate and not have to pay each other support if things don't work out. and amend it later if things are working out

to get the process started her lawyer needs us  to submit our assets and liabilities. however the form she gave me to submit my financial information is a portion of a spousal support form

[Form 13](https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjcrMz-48POAhXKJ8AKHesZD1QQFgggMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fontariocourtforms.on.ca%2Fforms%2Ffamily%2F13%2FFLR_13_Sept105_EN_fil.doc&usg=AFQjCNG1FR3U_zayTf142UVa1171tnzQJw&sig2=XIJBdMRPNEA6A6Z0zlLuMA)

she needs me to submit this to her personally, with supporting documents ie, equifax report, bank statement pay stub.

I have limited funds to go over this but once the agreement is drafted i will need a sit down to go over it with a lawyer and she will help with that cost.

**Is this standard for starting the process, is that the standard place to state finances in setting up a cohabitation agreement that protects her house? or should i be worried about a potential scam?**

Ontario, Canada

Edit: Added a Link to the form in question

Answer: If she's got a lawyer then you need a lawyer. He works for her not you. He's not looking out for your interests.


Title: Got jumped outside a bar. My jaw was shattered, lost 4 months wages and medical bills are stacked up.

Question:
This happened 5 months ago, in Montana. It happened in my small (pop 9,000) hometown. The police were on scene immediately as the two guys simply walked away. I left in an ambulance and received two surgeries over a 4 month period. I have permanent paralysis in 1/4 of my mouth. The police have the names and addresses of the two assholes who ruined my life, yet they've still done nothing. I've been told that there is a case file (one of the thickest the department has seen) and it's just sitting at the Defense Attorney's office. I cannot receive help from the victims advocates unit until the case file is processed.

Every time I call to get answers or any information of progress, I'm told that they're very busy. The fact of the matter is that they're not busy. It's a small town, and I fear that there is more than likely politics involved.

I just don't know what to do. I feel like they've gotten away with it. Even with approximately 15 witness statements corroborating my account, it seems that you can just beat someone nearly to death and get away with it. I feel less than human, reddit.

Answer: Have you tried a civil suit?