Title: Roommate marrying a Navy boy and wants to break lease.

Question:
United States - Michigan

My roommate's Fiance signed up with the Navy in January, but didn't go to Boot Camp until June 1st. They're planning on getting married in the next month, and want to use the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to break her out of our lease so she can move down to Florida with him. Based on what I've read, they don't qualify to use SCFA, but she claims they do.

The first part that confuses me is that according to what I've read, you must be an active duty member for 180 days before you can use SCFA to break a lease. She claims that active duty started for him when he signed in January and started attending weekly trainings, if that is the case, then they are over their 180 day requirement. If active duty started when he entered boot camp, then they have not reached the required time yet. Secondly, based on what I've read, you need to have been on the lease before deployment or PCS started to qualify. I believe in either case, this does not apply to them. We signed our lease at the end of June. Lastly, Her fiance is not on our lease at all, but she claims that once they are married, she'll be considered his dependent and will be able to break the lease to go move down with him, even though he is not receiving new orders, PCS, or being deployed.

If she breaks the lease and leaves, my other roommates and I will see our rent go up by about $100 a month. We are all attending a large university in Michigan and are mostly broke, so this is very concerning for us.

What are our options here, reddit? Will this even work for them? I don't want her to get stuck paying rent for a place she's not living in, but she told us, in writing, that she wasn't planning on leaving this semester. What can we do?

Thanks for your help.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Even being actually in the military does not give any special authority to break a lease whenever you want; it is all predicated on the receipt of either PCS orders or orders for deployment over 90 days.

Her marrying her fiancé doesn't give her any special rights to break the lease. However, if she gets PCS orders with her name on it, then she can, even if the servicemember isn't in the lease.

If he already has PCS orders without her to FL, the command won't add her to them after they get married. If they are married before the orders are issued, they will include her on them. Until she can show PCS orders with her name on them, she can't use SCRA to break her lease, even if that means her husband PCSs to his next duty location without her. She can still break the lease and find a replacement tenant, like everyone else that needs to move for work does.


Title: Business owner signed contract with large printing company to lease over five years has now passed away. Can we argue that the contract is now void?

Question: The president (and my father) of our company passed away last year in September of 2016. He was the only one to have signed the contract on a *insert large printing house company here* industrial printer which was agreed to lease  through 2019. We have analyzed the costs of continuing to do print catalogues that we would print in-house with this printer, and unfortunately the margins on the profits are very low as opposed to either online marketing or getting catalogues printed off-site. The lease payment per month is a mortgage for a $250k house, so I'm looking at ways to save costs. My question is: since my father passed away and he was the only signer of the contract, can we void the contract and cease operation of the printer?

Answer: Maybe if he signed it binding himself personally but almost certainly not if it signed it for the business. He was acting as an authorized agent. If the person who signed the contract died voided the contract then there would be a thriving industry of people near death going around signing contracts left and right. It would be like a George Romero movie only with a lot more paperwork.Answer #2: Most contacts like this have clearly stated methods of and penalties for breaking them.  That would be worth looking into.  If a method / penalty isn't outlined, a conversion with the company to buy out the contact at a reduced rate may also be worthwhile.


Title: Advice on unlawful imprisonment. [M19] [Brisbane, Australia]

Question:
Hey so I'm (M19) from Brisbane, Australia. A month or two ago my mother who at the time I was on very bad terms with makes a false police call saying I'm going to commit suicide.

Two police officers then took me to a mental hospital and kept me over night against my will. Repeatedly I told them that my mother didn't know what she was talking about, and then repeating this again to the hospital staff I wasn't let out until I had to practically lie to one of their counsellors agreeing that I was suicidal. It took them 6 hours to get someone to talk to and by that time I was livid. I was so furious at how I had been treated, but when they released me I went home and just wanted to be done with it.

Problem is I still have nightmares of that night over and over, I wasn't especially fearful of police officers before but now I majorly am. I feel this has had psychological damage due to their disregard for anything I was saying.

I'm not a legal expert but surely there's something here about a mental hospitals duty of care to not take in patients that are actually fine and then kinda fuck them up a bit.

Thanks

Answer:
 I really doubt you have recourse against the hospital or police, the police probably aren't qualified to decide on your mental health and hospitals tend to take a long time to get around to people who aren't actively dying when they come in. I don't know Australian law but it sounds like they did what they were supposed to, even if it took forever. It is extremely unpleasant to be detained unwillingly but the idea is that's the alternative to you dying.

Your mother made a false report but I don't know how you'd prove that, especially if you admitted to being suicidal in the hospital. If you have proof of her doing similarly harassing things you might be able to get a restraining order or something there?Answer #2: The police conveyed you to a hospital for assessment and did so on a reasonable basis. You have no grounds to seek damages from them. Given you were released from the hospital so quickly, I doubt your case there was mishandled and could be argued to have caused you mental damages.

Honestly it sounds like your greatest issue, both short and long term, is personal resilience. You should seek out counselling first then coaching to overcome this and future undesirable situations in life.


Title: Question about something I read on tumblr

Question:
I read that it is breaking federal law to have students grade each other's paper because of a student privacy law.
Truth or fiction?
I will attempt to link an image here,  but I'm on mobile,  wish me luck.
http://imgur.com/ogPPx6o

Answer:
 Fiction. The Supreme Court actually heard a case about peer grading in relation to FERPA a few years back.

http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2001/2001_00_1073

>The Court reasoned that peer- graded items did not constitute education records protected by FERPA until a teacher collected the grades on the students' papers or other items and recorded the grades in the teacher's grade book. In reaching its conclusion, the Court noted that peer-graded items were not "maintained" within in the meaning of FERPA, as the student graders only handled the items for a few moments. Moreover, the Court stated that each student grader, by grading assignments, did not constitute a person acting for an educational institution within FERPA.


Title: [MI] I am currently being evicted and the homeowner evicting me shut off utilities

Question: This is sort of a follow up question to this post https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5untj5/mi_my_mother_and_i_17_yo_are_being_evicted_by_my/?ref=search_posts .  The court date has come and gone, and there is another one next week. During the time period between the 1st court date and now, the stepfather has turned off electricity to both my mothers and my room. My room is not properly heated and I use an electric heater. He stated that he can do that because it is only the electricity and not the heat or water he turned off. In addition, he turned off power for our clothes dryer. After I turned the switch on the electrical box back on he threatened to completely pull the breakers for our rooms. He also changed the door knobs on my mothers room and the bathroom, replacing them with knobs that have no locks, whereas the previous ones did have locks. He has also entered our rooms and made copies of my mothers personal information such as drivers licence and social security number. Is what he doing technically okay?

Answer: That is constructive eviction. Bring that up at the next court date. It will not go well for him.


Title: [Oregon] Need clarification on easement before neighbor sells house.

Question:
My property, which is in Portland, OR, has an easement on the side that allows for ingress and egress so that my neighbors can access a parking spot at the back of their property. The parking spot is entirely on the neighbor’s property.

It is my understanding that the easement only allows for entry/exit from the parking spot, and should not allow for parking on my property or any other usage of my property. My neighbor has blocked off the parking spot with a fence/gate that also blocks off access to part of my property. They have also been parking in the driveway, which is partially on my property and storing things on my property.

I just found out that they will be putting the property up for sale. My main concern is that the property usage is not misrepresented to potential buyers, so I want to get these issues addressed. Mainly, I want it established that new owners cannot park on the area that only allows ingress and egress and I want the fence removed that blocks access to my property. I have brought up the issue with my neighbor and they claimed they were given a different interpretation of the easement which allowed them to do the things they have done.

My question is how do I go about resolving this formally and legally? Ideally I would like for the solution to be reached before they can sell the house.

Thank you for any advice and your time.
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 If "ingress and egress and for maintenance purposes" is really all that is granted, then your neighbors have no right to fence in the easement area or store any items there (except perhaps temporarily during maintenance work). They can't park on your driveway, either.

Your first step would be to pony up a small amount of money and get a real estate attorney to write them an ominous letter. If they persist, you can sue them on contingency and recover attorney's fees, per the language of the easement.Answer #2: What does the easement actually say?Answer #3: > My neighbor has blocked off the parking spot with a fence/gate that also blocks off access to part of my property. They have also been parking in the driveway, which is partially on my property and storing things on my property.

I'm not going to much help for your issue, but the people that are will probably want to know how long you have been tolerating these actions from your neighbors.

> I have brought up the issue with my neighbor and **they claimed they were given a different interpretation of the easement which allowed them to do the things they have done**.

What does the governing document say? Whose interpretation does the blueprint support? If you're not sure you will either want to post it here, or find a lawyer to review it for you.Answer #4: I'm trying to understand why they even need an easement.  Can they not use the strip of their own property that runs alongside?  Or is it not wide enough?


Title: OH- Friend is going to get evicted because drug-addicted son won't leave

Question: I'm writing on behalf of an older disabled friend who does not have internet. She lives in subsidized housing- in particular I think she receives a Section 8 voucher which I believe is an outdated term. Her contract stated she could not have a guest for more than six days. Well her adult son, who had gone through rehab and was sober, relapsed (on meth) and now won't leave. My friend was told if she did not get her son to leave on Monday she would get evicted. Her son is refusing to leave. The police have been called three times and they won't or can't help. Is there anything my friend can do before Monday to get him out or to not lose her housing and housing voucher? My friend is disabled and has limited resources, both in terms of money and in terms of connection and knowledge.

Answer:
 At two weeks, would he have tenancy rights?

How does he get his meth? He must leave the apartment to make his buys, or to get money for his drugs.

If he hasn't been there long enough to have established residency, your friend could get a wedge and block the door when he goes out. Then call the police if he tries to break in. Just say someone is trying to break in, not who it is.

Edit: adult protective services should be called. They can help your friend. Answer #2: Have them call the cops and ask for their help removing an unwanted guest.


Title: (Maryland) Can COBRA benefits be denied due to a "negative balance" in an FSA?

Question:
I'm cross posting this from /r/personalfinance as I realized this might be a better subreddit for my question.

My wife is leaving her job due to me graduating and we are moving across the country. She is being told by the company that manages her employer's health insurance/FSA that because she has spent more money than she has put into her FSA (ie has a negative balance), she is not eligible for COBRA benefits. Now I know under the Uniform Coverage Rule that she is not required to repay the negative balance as that is a risk employers take when offering FSAs. We've in fact both left employers having spent more money than we've put into an FSA - we often take this into consideration if we know we are going to be leaving a company in the middle of the year. What I don't know is can they just flat out say you don't get COBRA because of a negative balance? That doesn't seem right to me... I've had a negative balance when leaving a company before and never been denied COBRA.

It turns out we almost for sure won't actually need COBRA because her and I will both have new health insurance before our old policy expires, but it still seems wrong to me. Curious if anyone has any knowledge about this and if something fishy is going on here. Her employer isn't a small company, it's the largest employer in the large city that we live in.

Answer: They are flat out wrong. COBRA was around long before FSAs. There is *nothing* in any law related to FSAs which says her rights to continuation under COBRA can be denied for this reason. The **only** time an employee can lose their rights to continue insurance under COBRA is for gross misconduct which is a very high standard.


Title: Roommate is trying to force me or my girlfriend to pay 2/3 of the rent while he gone for 4 months and has a vastly larger bank account to threaten legal action. Or he wants to forcefully remove my girlfriend. I'm freaked out.

Question:
Hi all,

For jurisdiction, this is occurring in BC, Canada.
My roommate and I signed a 12 month lease for $945 each a month. He knew that he wouldn't be here for 4 months of that, and he knew that despite that, he would still be paying half. Fast forward 4 months after the lease is signed and I get the okay from him and the landlord to have my girlfriend move in with me during the summer 4 month period (her and I are moving into a new place after this lease ends). Now he is convinced that because she is staying with me, she must pay at least 1/3 of the rent despite having never signed anything or agreed to anything. He says he won't pay his half of the rent until she leaves and he will use his renters rights to have her removed. What can I do? I'm freaking out.

Answer:
 Why *wouldn't* your girlfriend pay rent for occupying the space?

If he's paying for 1/2 then he gets 1/2, even if he's not there, and that includes allowing your girlfriend to move in.  It's perfectly acceptable for him to demand she contribute to a place she lives, and it's perfectly acceptable for him to use whatever rights he has to block it if she refuses to do so.Answer #2: Most of what you are getting is not legal advice.

The legal reality of the situation is that you are both on the lease and you both have to agree to let her move in. If you cannot come to an agreement, she does not get to move in and the landlord can have her removed, end of story. You can either agree to each pay 1/3 of the rent or your roommate can say no and she doesn't get to move in. That is that, no ifs, ands, or buts.


Title: Paternity testing in Texas

Question: This is a bit of a long post sorry. I just need some help with this. After finding out I was pregnant my ex decides to come back in my life and harass me. He believes so strongly the baby is his. I know damn well he isnt the father, my boyfriend is. It just so happened we concieved a month after I dumped my ex. Now he wont leave me alone saying he knows because he knows when i concieved little does he even know when I ovulate. He says he is going to get a court order to get a paternity test and that in of itself is nothing a pregnant woman needs to hear. I have tried telling him why he cant be the father but he refuses to listen. He says he still loves me and wants to raise the kid. Shit he has never confessed before. I fear hes never going to stop harassing me. And him pushing for a court order is somewhat okay. But i am not waiting till after my son is born for him to "find out" because I don't need him in my life for the rest of the pregnancy. Is there anyway I can refuse or take any legal action for him to stop bothering me at least until he gets the results? And I was also thinking of doing a prental paternity testing they are just so expensive here.

Answer:
 Were you married to your ex, or were you just dating?

Edit: For those downvoting me, in Texas, there is a presumption of paternity if the father was married to the child’s mother any time during the 300 days before the child was born.  Knowing the situation helps to point OP at the correct legal rights.Answer #2: You may, if you wish, file for a restraining order keeping him away from you. He has no right to anything while you are pregnant; if you can get a judge to agree the harassment is unwarranted, he may grant an order prohibiting non-judicial contact.

After birth he would then file a paternity suit and ask for a paternity test, which is just a cheek swab.

But as long as you are pregnant, you are completely free to cut him out of your life completely.Answer #3: Tell him you'll do a prenatal test, but only if he pays for it.


Title: Florida woman harassing me via email and using a potentially fake lawyer. I'm live in Kentucky.

Question:
Hello LegalAdvice,

A woman contacted me through my business website to discuss writing a book based on her concept (I'm a ghostwriter.)

She did not ask for a confidentiality / non-disclosure agreement prior to our telephone conversation, and discussing her very brief notes.

After reviewing her work, I sent an email with some followup questions regarding the material, which she could not adequately answer, and gave only vague, roundabout answers. In her response she also said she could not afford my services, and asked if I would work for royalties only.

Her inability to adequately frame her concept in a way which I could approach it to write a book, caused me to decline to work with her. I also thanked her for her offer on royalties, but said stated that I never work for royalties. I was extremely polite and professional the entire time, and even said she should not take this personally.

Long story short, she took offense for some reason (likely because I  briefly explained I couldn't work on her concept because of the "holes" in the core concept.) She came back with a thinly veiled vitriolic and manipulative response, and implied I turned her down because she couldn't afford my services (which isn't true, my prices are actually lower than average, because I choose to be very selective on my projects.)

I did respond saying, still politely, but firmly that I asked the pointed questions before she said she couldn't afford my services, and I told her she has proven my gut intuition correct in declining her work.

She since sent numerous unanswered emails, and began demanding a post-discussion non-disclosure and confidentiality agreement. I responded to that email, again politely, saying I would have had no problem signing an NDA before we spoke, as I do for anyone who asks, but I simply could not enter a legal agreement to silence with someone who was taking issue with me (for some reason.) She kept emailing and threatening to "expose" my business, so I finally responded and asked her to please cease all communication to me.

She has now had someone contact me claiming he is an attorney in the state of Florida, threatening legal action. There was no contact information in his email, and I cannot find him in the Florida State Bar online registry.

My questions are: Do I have cause and should I file a harassment restraining order on her, and if so, should I do that in Florida or can I do it in Kentucky? Obviously I wan to minimize cost, so I'd prefer not to have to hire an attorney in Florida to file it, but I am willing to do so if necessary. If I can just file it in Kentucky however, with the same effect, even better.

Also, another thing I was thinking of offering, just to get her off my back, was to offer signing a *mutual* NDA, so neither of us can talk about the other at all. She is obviously seeking to simply do me harm because she's offended I rejected her concept, so to bury my ego and avoid her trashing my business online may be worth it for me. After researching her a little online she has a tiny blog and Twitter following (about 500 followers) and appears to be somewhat of a hustler. She had a crowdfunded campaign for a hysterectomy, and had set up other crowdfunded campaigns for personal ends.

If this person who emailed me is impersonating a lawyer, is there any legal action I can take against him, or at least use this as leverage to get her to leave me alone?

I will not sign an NDA with her, as I believe she will still try to trash me online and I would not be able to retort, if I saw it necessary.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thanks for your time.

EDIT: A words

Answer:
 Declining to do business with someone isn't any kind of civil offense, you're fine. Ignore all of the emails. If they want to sue you, it's going to come by mail, not email.  They aren't going to sue you.

If she does try to sue you, It'll probably be in FL.  If that's the case, file for a change of venue to KY, that's where the business is located.  It'll be easy to defend, she's got no damages.


Title: Sons father filing for custody...

Question:
Long story short he up and left with everything... Including the camper we all lived in... By the time court rolls around he will have been gone 10 months and seen his son twice. He will be almost 17 months at that point... Little to no help has been given and unfortunately i cant afford a lawyer... In nc is that a huge concern? The child has never been with his father alone and ive done nothing to deem me anywhere near unfit... Could just use a little advice. I promise not to whine or bring up unnecessary bs. My child doesnt know the man and im ok with him having weekends however hes railroading me for full custody and trying to give me 2 weeks visitation. At this point ive called all the local lawyers in my tiny shit hole county and they just want thousands of dollars. Do i need to panic?
Topic:
Custody Divorce and Family

Answer:
 Worst thing to do is to panic. Keeping your cool is important.

One option you have is to google around for women shelters and women legal aid initiatives (or legal aid initiatives in general).


Title: Parents won't let me seek treatment, threaten to purposely lie to my doctor to trash my reputation.

Question:
I'm not sure if this fits on this sub, but I didn't know where else to post it. If there is a better place to put it, please tell me where so I can do that immediately.

Backstory for the following paragraph, skip it if you want to read what the title is about

Hi, I am M 18 living in the US. I still live in my parents house and am currently under my mothers insurance. About a year ago I started to become suspicious that I could possibly have ADHD, and tried to do my own research on the topic. At that time I was currently talking to a therapist because of some issues with depression and self harm, and he noted that I had a lot of the symptoms common with. However that would be the last time I talked to him as my parents pulled me out of treatment when I told them at dinner one night that we had been talking about the possibility of me having a diagnose form of depression. At that time I didn't really care in all honesty, however I should have taken it as a warning sign. After a while of my own personal research, I talked to my dad roughly 6 months ago (while I was still a minor) about the possibility of ADD or ADHD. He said at the time that it was probably just me trying to find an excuse for my slipping up at school, but he would see about maybe getting an appointment. Every week he would make up a new excuse on why we couldn't make an appointment that week. After 4 months of this I figured he was just trying to hold me off so that hopefully I would forget all of it, and told him to not bother with it anymore. I figured that I only had to wait a little while longer to turn 18, and once I did so I tried to set up everything on my own.

&#x200B;

After trying to set up an appointment the first time about a month ago, I had to cancel because no one in my family has been to our practitioner since we switched to my mom's insurance after my father sadly lost his job. Because of this I had to talked to my mom and dad together three times. The first two times they refused to let me see my mother's insurance card with the information I needed because to them I was just trying to find excuses in life My father tried to also say that I wasn't being a man by going to the doctor. The third time they stated that I needed to do the "hard research" first and admit to them that going to the doctor was pointless and that I was simply trying to find a way out of life being hard. By this point however I had found out where she kept her insurance card and knowing this I scheduled an appointment knowing that when the time came I would be able to take the card with me.

&#x200B;

Tonight I was confronted by my mother and father holding my mom's phone that had an appointment reminder text from our doctor's office. What followed was a heavy barrage of yelling that I tried and succeeded in simply shaking my head through. At this time it also occurred to me that my mom had been told what I was trying to go to the doctor for, and she did not approve. I tried to break down some of the key statements as follows:

* "You are a waste of their time and our insurance's money."
* "They are going to kick you out of there like a fat person trying to figure out why they are gaining weight."
* "I guess we failed as parents if you really think you came out of me with problems."

That last comment makes me think that by going to the doctor they feel they failed as parents, which isn't right but I can't seem to change their mind on. Here however are some points that concern me the most:

* They will not let me see or get a hold of my mothers insurance card that has the information I need on it
* If they learn that I was diagnosed with any disorder, they will personally go to my doctor and "say anything necessary" to "make him realize nothing is wrong and you don't even know your own self"
* If the following did not work, and if a possible diagnosis lead to possible medication, they would prevent me for receiving any of that said medication

I don't know what I should do or what I can do. With everything going on and life slipping more and more every day i'm just trying to get the help that I need even if it end up just some counselling that I need. I'm sorry if this seemed ranty at all, I tried to make it clean but I truly feel cornered right now. I don't have enough money as it stands to continue college and move out and get onto my own insurance, I either have to stay at both my parents residency and on my mom's insurance so I can continue school or drop out to live on my own. So, being that I am 18 yet still on their insurance, what can I do under their insurance, and how much of what they said they were going to do can they do? If you guys do not know, then how or where can I find out?

&#x200B;

Answer: Assuming that you are in the U.S. and are in one of the many states in which you are an adult at 18, you can call the insurance company and get a copy of your card. You can set up your own appointment, get yourself to it, pay for it, get a prescription, fill that prescription, and pay for it. You can tell the doctor's office not to engage with your parents. You can also be evicted if your parents do not approve.


Title: Dad is a doctor, legality of him writing me a doctors note for school?

Question: My dad is a psychiatrist with an MD degree. I am genuinely sick, and my high school requires a doctor’s note to excuse absences due to illness. Would it be legal for him to write me a doctor’s note or do I need to go see a different doctor to obtain one? Thanks. In California by the way.

Answer:
 This isn’t a legal issue, it’s a school policy issue. What they will accept is up to the school. Ask them. Answer #2: I agree with u/biondina but want to add the it may possibly (grey area) be unethical (and is definitely discouraged) for him to treat you (this may count) since he is your dad. Your dad would probably be in a better position to evaluate that though (your post makes it unclear whether you have ran this idea past him yet so I am just assuming you haven't) NAL

https://www.cmanet.org/news/detail/?article=faq-can-i-provide-treatment-for-my-friends


Title: My ex is taking me to court over my dog

Question:
I’m new to reddit so I’ll do my best with this. I was in a relationship for roughly 15 month, 12 of those months living with her. 4 months into the relationship I had began trying to convince her of allowing me to get a dog.

She granted me permission as long as it was known the dog was to be taken care of by me. I went and saw a few dogs but didn’t find one that felt like a good fit. I finally went and visited a dog and my ex tagged along.

On this occasion I ended up adopting the dog. The previous owner didn’t charge me anything for the dog. He was a really nice guy so since getting the dog from him I have kept in contact by sending him photos of the dog.  It just felt like the right thing to do because I would want the same if I gave away a dog. Especially since this dog I adopted is hands down the most obedient and sweet dog I’ve ever came across.

I won’t bore you with all the details of the conclusion of the relationship. After living together I saw a different side of her that was dark and the relationship became toxic. She had gotten physical with me on multiple occasions (pushing, shoving). I had moved my clothes out and took my dog and left her everything else.

She did not take the break up well. She was mad because I had gotten my own place and knew I wasn’t coming back. I told her I was willing to let her see the dog once things settled down from the break up. She did not take that well and demanded I bring the dog over because I didn’t deserve the dog and that we needed to share the dog.

I didn’t want an altercation and told her no. She then went to slander me on every platform of social media over the next 3 months. I received paper work to appear in court. I was being sued for theft by taking illegal possession of “her” dog and sued for court/lawyer fees.

Here are the facts in the matter:

The dog is registered to my name at the vet

The vet printed out a report showing transferring of ownership to me (I take the dog to the same vet the old owners took her)

I paid over half of the vet bills

The dog is microchipped (did this once I moved out and got my own place)

I have screenshots of her admitting it’s my dog it’s just unfair

She assaulted me after the breakup at a bar (witnesses wrote statements for me) also police witness

Screenshots of all the slander of social media

Screenshots of threats of violence, police, legal.

Screenshots of her admitting I bought all the food for the dog

Screenshots of her admitting to the assault at bar (I didn’t press charges)

Her argument is that since the dog was on her lease that by me taking the dog, I stole it.

She has nothing showing true ownership of the dog, aside from the dog being on her lease (which doesn’t show ownership)

My lawyer says this whole thing is just absurd of her.

My fear is that she may try and lie and twist the truth and try to take shots at personal things towards me. And I truly don’t believe any level headed judge would rule in her favor with all of the evidence I have.

I’m honestly very hurt by all this because she is being very vengeful. I don’t want any of this to happen, I just want us to both move on with our lives. By the time this gets to court it be roughly 5 months since the break up.

I’m not sure what I’m looking for answer-wise but I’m open to any opinions, questions etc;..

Thank you for reading!

Answer: You weren't married and you bought some property while dating? It's yours. You should add your state and local info, though, otherwise no one will be able to give you specifics.


Title: apartment flooded due to blocked shower drain. Can the owners be held liable?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: You accidentally left a shower running it caused damage and you want them to pay you? Wtf is wrong with you.


Title: Health Insurance company retroactively denied coverage for a surgery performed 7 years ago. Is attempting to recoup payments.

Question:
Potential Relevant information: The state is Wisconsin and the Health Insurance company is Tricare. Tricare is a government run health insurance company tasked with providing coverage to members of the military and their families. It was formerly managed by Tricare Management Activity, but switched over to the  Defense Health Agency in 2013.

In 2008, at the age of 48, my father was diagnosed hip degeneration in his right hip. Normally this would be corrected with a full hip replacement. However, considering his young age and bone size, doctors suggested he was a prime candidate for a less invasive surgery known as hip resurfacing. Specifically the Birmingham Hip resurfacing system which was approved by the FDA in 2006.

Before the surgery, the hospital/my father’s doctor submitted a 'Health Net Federal Services Tricare Services Request/Notification Form' detailing my father's 'Plan of Treatment' to Tricare. In response the insurance company sent us a notice which stated that 'There is no authorization required for services.' A notice I still have in my procession.

Anyways the surgery went ahead and was performed without any complications. The insurance company paid without any hassle. Fast forward 6 years. My dad was diagnosed with the same thing in the other hip. Because he had great success and no complications with the resurfacing procedure, he opted for the same treatment with the same hospital and doctor.

When the hospital submitted the paperwork for authorization we received a denial of services letter. It specifically stated that "The requested services...  are not a Tricare covered benefit." and were "...considered unproven or investigational."

We appealed the decision and lost. Not only did we lose, but they also denied the first surgery. In their notice, Tricare reiterated that the surgery was experimental and unproven. They also stated that, "The records indicate that this procedure was not preauthorized." "...the denial of total hip resurfacing is upheld... for the performed right hip procedure." "Although the surgery was allowed... after further review the surgery and associated services were paid in error and will be recouped as a result of this decision." The letter also listed a sum of money that was to be recouped.

So that brings us to right now. Our last best hope, short of taking actual legal action, is a formal review.  It’s essentially a second appeal. Basically my father, an appealing party, needs to write up something with supported documentation that will convince them to reverse their initial decisions. He asked me to help him out. Basically we want to accomplish two things. A: We want the decision on the recouping of funds reversed. Everyone was following Tricare policy as it was laid out to us in 2008. Doing this 7 years later seems incredibly bizarre and wrong.  B: We want them to reverse their decision and allow the resurfacing surgery.

It seems unlikely they’ll budge on B, but based on the remarks made by a lawyer and a liaison we spoke to, there may be hope for option A. So my question/need advice is, what should I do with this letter? What sort of information should I put into it, and what should I leave out? Are there any specific words I should use? Are there any cases or policies I should bring up? Any other relevant information? Obviously if it comes to hiring a lawyer, we’ll do that, but we hope to resolve it here. I’d be grateful for any advice.

Answer:
 You might want to crosspost to /r/insurance ...Answer #2: Many states have statutes that limit look back periods for insurance claims but unfortunately Wisconsin is not one of them. Wisconsin has no statute at all in place to that deals with recoupments.

In your letter, be sure to include a note from your dads MD justifying the service. Also be sure to call in addition to writing your appeal.  Its easier for them to say no to a letter compared to saying no to your face.

Also, just a thought, after the second level appeal, did they mention to you any kind of appeal that involves an independent review board? I would inquire about that. It would allow an outside MD / organization that has no financial benefit in denying a claim to review the documentation and make a decision. I would inquire about this.


Title: Horrendous Cooking Smells From Downstairs Neighbor.

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Welcome to apartment life. You really have no recourse here.


Title: [Santa Barbara, CA] The lease I signed said utilities included. Surprise! Lease wasn't fully executed & now I'm told I have to pay utilities. What can I do?

Question:
I signed a month-to-month lease for a studio/1 bedroom in December 2015. Rent would be $1400/month plus a flat $40 fee for water, trash, gas, and electricity. Fast forward to living in the unit exactly a month today, and all my power is off. I call the property management company, who says, "Yeah, sorry, looks like we used the wrong addendum regarding utilities and we actually only pay water and trash. The lease hasn't hasn't been fully executed since WE haven't signed it, so the incorrect one that only you signed isn't valid anyway." ...It's been TWO months and they haven't even signed the lease I'm already living by...?

They've got $3k of my money tied up so far in rent & deposit and I can't afford any more of their mistakes. I signed this lease specifically to keep living expenses at $1440/month and now that isn't the case.

Is this a common practice, and can they legally pull off this bait and switch? What can I do about it?

Answer: They're in the wrong, but that doesn't mean you'll "win" in the long term.  You're in a month-to-month tenancy and they can simply give you 30 day notice and have you out of the place by mid-March.  Are you prepared to move so quickly?Answer #2: It sounds like you need to be prepared to move.  I expect that you will get a 30-day notice to move out once you start to fight this or when a decision comes down in your favor (assuming there are no local laws to prevent it)


Title: I'm being harassed by a private community security as a non-resident, working for a company that delivers food to only these residences

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 I'm sorry, but your narrative is a little confusing.

You have family members in this community, but aside from them being mentioned, they haven't been affected or involved, right?

You've been delivering food to addresses in the community. It's not clear when, where, or why the security guards spoke to you.

Your boss should talk to the HOA/management company and to the security people.

If someone tries to fine your family members that live in the community for something inappropriate, they should talk to the HOA/management company as well as the security company. Generally, guards can't issue fines -- they would have to do it through the HOA.

When and where have the security guards actually spoken to you? How did all of this start?


Title: Vermont: Wrongfully fired today. I have no doubts and have proof in work email. Can I log in one last time to company email to print proof...?

Question:
Someone said it was “”””probably “” illeg but didn’t know for sure.... please advise while I still have time to do this.
They were unfair and had bad faith and tricked me into signing inaccurate things.

Answer:
 No, your permission to access your employer's computer systems fairly obviously terminated when you were let go. If you still have access - and if they're at all smart, you don't - you may be breaking the law by using it.

Take the documents you have to an attorney. If there's something relevant in your work mailbox, your attorney will know how to request it (or how to get a court to order them to produce it) if necessary.


Title: DMCA requests for homemade porn

Question:
I was young reckless and made a mistake. I made homemade porn when I was younger.

I am not here to discuss the morals of doing this but to seek legal advice with getting copies of the content removed from the internet.

Every so often the video will pop up on a website and I have to file a DMCA request for its removal. No problem 9/10 times it's removed quickly.

However recently I submitted a request for its removal and the offending site in question replaced the content with a blurb citing "Infringing content x is disabled at the request of John James Doe" (not my real name). The rightful copyright owner".

This created a serious problem because now whenever someone googles my full name it links directly to this website. Which is clearly a porn website.

This is not ideal!

I reached out and asked for them to remove my name to make is anonymous to the general public but received the response.

"This is a public record of your request, along with your description of the work(s) allegedly infringed".

Are they obligated to display my name publicly with a description of the infringing content under law? How can I get them to remove my name?

Location CA

Answer:
 They are free to do that. If it were libel, you could sue for it's removal, but there's nothing you can do in this case. You sent the DMCA, they are free to report that you sent the DMCA. It's truthful.Answer #2: To prevent this happening in the future, you might want to set up a company and assigning them the copyright to the video. That will prevent your name appearing so prominently in the DMCA takedown request.Answer #3: Considered asking [Google to remove the link](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2744324) - due to either the DMCA and the fact that it was shared without your consent. Answer #4: Do you have a particularly uncommon name?  Have you tried searching Google in incognito mode?  It might just be personalizing the results for you and ranking the porn site much higher than it otherwise would.
Answer #5: If you have EU Citizenship, you can demand that Google stops linking to the website. Otherwise, you can try and ask Google to do so here:https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2744324


Title: Can my landlord sell the house I just moved into? [United Kingdom]

Question:
So I moved into a new property last week and have now found it is on the market.

I did however get a short hold tenancy agreement from the landlord for 7 months (I don't need the room any longer than this).

The tenancy agreement states that under Schedule 2 of the housing act 1988 and under section 21 of the housing act 1988 the landlord may take possession of the property however after looking at this it appears he cannot kick me out during the shorthold period stated on the tenancy agreement.

I am just worried as I just moved here after getting evicted from another place at the end of my tenancy for similar reasons and want to make sure I am safe until July when my tenancy agreement ends.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer:
 Your landlord can sell the property with you in situ, the new landlord will take on the tenancy and be bound by the existing contract

Your new landlord can serve you a section 21 but can't enforce it until the fixed term is up. He could still serve a section 8 notice though, for example, if you don't pay your rent. You're basically safe unless you do something wrong.


Title: Repercussions of one dui and one wet and reckless

Question:
I received a dui in 2014 which was reduced to a wet reckless the next year. I then got a second dui in 2015 after my first one was reduced to a wet and reckless and 375 days after my first offense. Im currently enrolled in a dui program with 6 months left and have met all other court/dmv requirements. I live in California, where both offenses took place.

My question is: how long do these offenses remain on my criminal record? And my driving record? Is it even possible to fully erase them from either record? If so, how do I do it?

I ask because Im interested in a potential career with the federal government in the future, and something's telling me that just wont be possible no matter what I do.

Answer: Stop drinking and driving.


Title: (CO) paid a dogsitter to be at out house, she's has barely been there, and we've made other arrangements. More inside.

Question:
Long story short, we've paid a dogsitter to stay at our house for the majority (>50%) of waking hours (8am-10pm) as defined in a verbal agreement with the sitter. They are also expected to stay the night. The agreement is we would pay the person $300 for 3 days. Both parties initially agreed to these terms. We have a home monitoring system that shows distinctly the sitter arriving to the home at 11am, leaving at 11:30am, coming back at 3pm, leaving at 5pm, and coming back at 9pm. This is very obviously less than 50% of waking hours.

We've decided that, since they have breached their part of the agreement, we will no longer be using their services and have another, more familiar sitter lined up. The original sitter has been notified and acknowledged she would leave tomorrow morning at 7am.  A check for $300 was left on the kitchen table for the sitter, all 3 days pay in advance. We have reason to believe that the sitter has already cashed the check. If this is the case, is there any way to get the $200 back that we shouldn't owe the sitter because she didn't perform their end of the deal?

Answer:
 This is exactly what small claims court is for. Ask her for a refund, if she refuses file suit
Answer #2: As mentioned, you can ask for the return of the $200 and if the sitter refuses, you take them to small claims. But a verbal agreement makes things messy since the terms of the agreement are your word against hers, so that is a hurdle you'll need to overcome in court, and you should consider whether you're able to offer enough proof to clear it.


Title: Am I at fault for being hit from behind? (Car crash advice)

Question:
PICTURE OF THE INCIDENT
[https://imgur.com/a/Omcu5IQ](https://imgur.com/a/Omcu5IQ)

I, "Car A" had a minor incident through an intersection, where the driver of "Car B" accused me of being at fault for the collision.  The law states that I have to yield for the traffic on the right side of the road when driving through the street. But the law also states that if being hit from behind, the car that hit you is at fault.  So who is truly at fault here, and what should I do?

Topic:
Traffic and Parking

Answer:
 It looks like you turned in front of him instead of yielding and based on your drawing you would be at fault.

Hit from behind more often refers to those already traveling in the same lane as each other.


Title: Can I be terminated for not following a dress code that doesn't exist

Question:
I work in a small retail business in Ontario Canada and im at a loss of my standing as a worker.

When I started I signed a contract that stated my dress code as follows:
    No sandals or heels
    No cleavage
    No midriff
    No sweater pants
    No leggings or yoga pants

When I started it was in the colder months so the dress code wasn't hard to follow. Fast forward to the warmer months and I'm being told that I can't wear the following:
   Shorts that don't go past my fingertips
   Straps that are less than 3 fingers in width
   Shoes that show the top of my feet

Additionally I often don't find out about these dress code violations until I have worn the article of clothing in question. And when I say I didn't know I'm told it's in my contract and threatened with discipline or termination.

My question is can be fired for not complying with this verbal dress code, or if I am do I have a case of wrongful termination?

Answer:
 No proof of misconduct is required for termination in Ontario, as far as my understanding of the employment laws work, assuming your employer complies with notice or severance requirements.Answer #2: "No cleavage" oh man, as a very endowed person this would be deal-breaking for me, lol. I have to wear shirts up to my neck for no cleavage--and there aren't as many options for business attire with that!

Edit: got distracted and left out comments on the post, whoops. I meant to say that it is possible to be fired for not following directions even if they're not in writing. So this applies to your dress code as much as it would apply to telling you when you are permitted to use the printer.


Title: TX: do signs banning conceal carry also ban open carry?

Question: Local business I use recently put up a 30.06 sign making it illegal to conceal carry a handgun while inside. There is no 30.07 sign which is used to ban open carry. My question is: does the 30.06 sign apply to conceal carry AND open carry? If a business has a 30.06 sign only posted, can I legally open carry?

Answer: No, the sign only bans concealed carry. They can still ban open carry if they choose, but have not done so yet.


Title: Deceased Uncle on random websites

Question:
My Uncle was a police officer who died on duty in the 70s. Two websites have his information posted with a picture and a incorrect reason for his death. They basically blamed the Black Panthers and claimed it was a sniper who killed him. At the time my grandparents were devastated but this explanation wasn’t true because of information he would tell them about his station and especially his patrol partner but given the time they feared looking more into the matter. At the time of his death he had only been only on the force for two years after he returned home from serving in Vietnam. He was a ethnically ambiguous (we are mixed race family) war vet with an Asian wife, his partner strongly opposed him which caused a lot of suspicion. The trial for members of the Black Panthers never happened as it was ruled friendly fire and no sniper existed. However these sites are using his image and the BP story as reason for his death and overall spewing some racially charged statements in regard to who killed him. Not sure what can be done to verify the family version of his death but what’s most important is it was already ruled he didn’t die from a sniper like claimed. These sites really upset his surviving brothers and sisters as they pop up with a quick search of his name. I emailed one of the sites and asked them to take the picture and story down and never got a response. Another site used the information from the first site and honestly we just don’t want either to use his picture or this story anymore. Do we have any options to legally get them to stop and remove his name and image?
Topic:
Douche

Answer: Unfortunately there is nothing you can do unless you own the copyright for the photographs.  You cannot "defame" the dead, so making false statements about the cause of his death or anything else isn't actionable by you or your family.  The best you could do would be to try and do some search engine optimization to make these sites fall down on the search engine hits, but that's probably going to cost a lot of money.


Title: The company I work for has given me written documentation for the period of time I was sick in the hospital.

Question: This is based in Arizona and I was wondering if I have a leg to stand on here because I know this violates HIPA in some way. I have emails sent to HR that excused me for my time out sick, they also show the dates I would be out. The written documentation was titled as "poor job performance". I am at the point where I feel like I cannot call out again or I might lose my job. Any help would be appreciated thank you.

Answer:
 Your employer writing to you about your time in the hospital is not a HIPAA violation.

Do you qualify for FMLA and did you request fmla time off before missing time from work?


Title: Purchased a cell phone for my ex to use. Who's is it?

Question: I purchased an iphone 6 for my girlfriend a few weeks ago. I found out she was talking to other guys so I smashed it. The next day I felt bad so I transferred my 5s into her name and she gave me back the broken Iphone 6. She now wants the iphone 6 back and is threatening legal action. Who does it belong to? I have the receipt and the bank statement proving purchase.  I live in New York

Answer: Sounds like a gift. If I gave you a present, could I just destroy it whenever I wanted? Gifts are the property of the person to whom they're given.


Title: I pay rent to a nonprofit. Can i deduct rent payments from my taxes?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Your rent payments are not a charitable donation: you're getting something of immediate and commensurate value (tenancy) in return. Claiming your rent as a donation anyways will lead to a tax audit, followed by a reassessment and possible penalties.


Title: Fellow resident in apartment building is accusing Korean neighbors of being terrorists

Question: A few days ago a man I never met pounded on my door at the middle of the day accusing me of being a North Korean terrorist, and would not leave until I responded to his accusations. He eventually went away after I repeatedly told him I was not a terrorist. I called the police and gave them a description of the man, but was deeply unsettled because the strange man seemed to know that I am Korean and where I lived (I didn't hear him knocking on other people's apartments on the floor). Today another Korean friend living in his building had the same guy knock on his door at 3 am with the same accusations. We learned that this crazy person is a resident of the building, and we are concerned that he has somehow been tracking us. My friend also says he thinks the man was on some kind of drugs while this was taking place. I'm not sure what I can do, and I am genuinely scared that this man is somehow stalking us. Am I allowed to ask the leasing office to have this man leave the apartment building? The police were contacted both times and haven't done anything -what can I ask that they do? Please let me know if there are any other suggestions.

Answer:
 >  Am I allowed to ask the leasing office to have this man leave the apartment building?

Sure, you can ask.  You have no authority to demand it or break your lease because of it.  One incident is not enough.


Title: [CA] Publishing a book on behalf of a deceased (ex?) relative

Question:
Location: California

My grandfather passed away a decade ago. In the last few years of his life, he had divorced my grandmother and married another woman. When he passed away, his wife had us come by to clean out his belongings. The 'new' family had their pick first since they felt he put them in debt, so my family picked up small sentimental stuff that was leftover.

I ended up with a bunch of printed documents and computer files. The wife told us that he had been writing a lot - a memoir, his obituary, various little books he started but never finished. The family didn't want them and nobody really felt right throwing them away, so I decided to keep them. Nothing was signed and it was very informal - I showed up, we loaded things to the car, and left. We never spoke again and have not kept in touch with them since.

Recently while taking another look through the files, I found a book he had almost finished writing. The only snag is that it's missing some very crucial graphs and diagrams. But I believe if I were to figure those out and have an editor clean up the writing, it could easily be ready for publication. Or at the very least, it's original and lengthy enough that self-publishing could be on the table. Which raises the following questions:

Can I publish a book on his behalf, without asking his new family for permission? And if I published this book and received revenue from it, does this family have any claim?

The way I see it, they specifically told me the documents I received had unfinished books in them. I would say that makes it "mine" in the same sense as inheriting any other physical object would be mine. If the possession they gave me ended up being of more value than they thought, I would imagine that it's their loss and something that should have been considered when handed to me.

I could certainly use the extra income, but it's hard to forget that the new wife kept reminding our family repeatedly that they were "penniless" because of his spending habits. This makes me worry that on the off-chance they find out that one of his books is being sold, they'll feel entitled to it. Would it be wiser to just heavily edit it, publish it under my name with co-author credit to my grandfather, or would they still have grounds to come after any profits?

Thanks!

Answer:
 Inheriting a physical object is not the same as inheriting a copyright.  Given the informality of the situation, yes, they could definitely make a claim if these materials ended up having any material value.  You could argue that when they gave you the materials they gave you the copyrights; but that argument may or may not be accepted by a judge.

If your grandfather had a will, the copyrights and any proceeds from publishing would probably be distributed under its terms; if not, then according to CA intestate succession law, in which case the surviving spouse gets all community property and half separate property.  Whether these books are community or separate property depends on when they were written.


Title: Is it prostitution? Want to paint girl with body paint and then have sex with her. I will pay her $200 as model, and then the sex will be consensual.

Question:
Long story short I am a private photographer, I just take pictures for my own enjoyment. I met a girl on tinder who says she will do anything for me for $200 in bitcoin (weird payment method but I have a lot of bitcoin so I don't care).

I want to get her nude and then paint her body and take photos. Only I'll see the pictures. For this modeling job I am willing to pay her $200.

Afterwards if we have sex, will it be considered prostration? I'll write in the contract she is receiving the $200 payment for her modeling job, and have her sign a NDA, but I don't know if having sex afterwards will muddy the waters.

An option is always doing this whole thing without any sexual intercourse, but if the urge arises I want to know I'm not breaking the law.

Edit: Sorry, left out. I am in Oklahoma

Answer:
 Dude, no one is going to fall for your "one trick that every police officer hates." Answer #2: You met a girl on tinder and she wants you to pay in bitcoin? Let me guess, she also wants all the money in advanced.

Sounds like she is scamming you. Answer #3: She's going to end up making you pay upfront then ghosting.


Title: Class E felony

Question:
A friend of mine who is a sophomore in high school wore the same shirt on holloween to school as Eric Harris did during the Columbine shooting. The shirt did not go against the school dress code, but he was sent home that day with 10 days of OSS. They searched him and he had no weapons. They did find a a copy of the improvised munition handbook on him, as he is very interested in all sciences. He had no intention of ever hurting anyone. Many of his friends were interviewed all whom agree he wouldn't hurt anyone. He had a good evaluation by a mental health doctor. Without being representated by a lawyer he has been now expelled from high school and has a class e felony.
This was all just a harmless holloween costume.

Is this Lllegal?

Missouri, USA

Okay, I left out some details. This has been going on for a week and there's been several hearings. I meant he is going to court later this month for the felony they claim he committed. Yes, it is the US army book. He also had other science textbooks with him. This person like chemisty and likes to watch chemicals change color and stuff. They claim that he knowingly caused a situation where the school could've been evacuated for the risk of loss of life. He made no theats. There were no props, just the shirt. Nothing that showed he wanted to hurt anyone.

Answer:
 > They did find a a copy of the improvised munition handbook on him

You mean the army improvised field munitions handbook? Cuz that would raise eyebrows.

Also a POTENTIAL class E felony is possessing explosives.

> This was all just a harmless holloween costume.

It was a **bad** Halloween costume that even an idiot teenager should have thought better of. And based on your description you don't have the whole story.


Title: Labour Issue - employer withholding a raise.

Question:
I work for a large shipping-receivng company in Ontario, Canada we get raises every year, as well as having a nice bonus program that is based on performace.

I noticed on my last pay that my hourly wage never increased as it should have at 1 year, and i am now at 1 year and 5 months.

When i asked HR about it, i got a response that i was denied my raise based on performance. I do not think they can do this, as the raises are based on time not performance. there are also other employees that never had a raise withheld that have MUCH worse ratings than i.

I can not find my employee handbook to see what is says about raises.

do i have a case?

Answer: Unless your contract guaratees a raise, you have no case.


Title: Parents divorced. Mom agreed we could go on vacation during her visitation days, now she's saying she's taking it back and will call police if we leave. What can we do?

Question:
Hi r/legaladvice. I've never posted here before and I'm on mobile so I apologize if I make any mistakes.

My parents divorced a few years ago. My mother was abusive to me and my sister, so she only sees us Wednesday and Thursday nights for a few hours and every other weekend. I, being 17, opted not to see her any more 8 months ago and she did not protest as I'm the one who ratted her out for the abuse. However, my sister, who is 11, follows this schedule.

My dad informed her last week that we will be taking a trip Monday-Friday during our spring break from New Jersey where we live to Texas. She agreed that she would give up her few hours on Wednesday and Thursday. So we bought the tickets and made reservations at hotels to go.

However, they just got into an argument over her gaslighting my sister (another story) and she just revoked what she said. She said, and I quote, "You will not have them on my days because that will constitute abandonment. I will file a police report that you kidnapped her on my days of visitation. I do not agree to you talking her those days, dated [todays date] any prior consenting has been purged due to change of plans. End of story."

First of all, I have no idea where she got the legal jargon. Is this something we should worry about? Could she cause issues over this?

Thanks in advance!

Answer:
 Attorney in NJ who also clerked for a family law judge for a year here. Here's the situation. Your mother can make any allegation she wants to the Court or police. Whether they will be taken seriously or not is another story.

Family law judges in New Jersey are amazingly competent and exceedingly adept at spotting bullshit. Your mother has to file a motion and substantiate the allegations to a judge (in NJ the judge who divorces you keeps your case forever to resolve any issues relating to the divorce) who will have knowledge of your parents' history.

As stated in another response, your father should call the non emergency number and notify the police of any potential issues. Your dad should also ask his lawyer to or send a letter to the judge and your mom stating the situation and including a full itinerary of your trip including school schedule proving you will be on break. Your mom has an uphill battle if she plans on lying her way through this.

Enjoy your trip. If you do the above, you and your father will have absolutely nothing to worry about.

Edit: Have your father call the judges chambers and talk to the Law Clerk. Explain to them the situation so they know at the very least and they will likely tell you to do what I asked you. This was my job, so I know how all this is handled from the other side of the court room. PM me if you have any more questions I am more than happy to help, especially if I know the judge.


Title: [Florida] Question about Florida's "Headlights must be on in rain" statute

Question:
[Florida 316.217 \(2\)(b)](http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0300-0399/0316/Sections/0316.217.html) states that *lighted lamps* must be used during rain, smoke, or fog. The marquees around town always say something like "*Headlights* on during rain, it's the law".

My question is, does "lighted lamps" actually mean the headlights (where the tail lights would also come on), or will my daytime running lights suffice (where the tail lights do not come on)? I have auto head lights, but they do not always kick in during rain or when my wipers are turned on.

Answer:
 Just turn your damn headlights on while raining. It's not hard.Answer #2: This part:

> illuminating devices as herein respectively required ...

Seems to refer to this and other parts:

> 316.221 Taillamps.—
(1) Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, and pole trailer, and any other vehicle which is being drawn at the end of a combination of vehicles, shall be equipped with at least two taillamps mounted on the rear, which, when lighted as required in s. 316.217, shall emit a red light plainly visible from a distance of 1,000 feet to the rear...

Which would lead me to believe that you could be cited for not illuminating tail lights in the rain.


Title: Just found out my apartment key opens each apartment door in my building. I live in Ohio.

Question:
The key my landlord gave me for my unique apartment opens each apartment door in my building. I just found this out after living here for two months. My skin is crawling.
Another tenant told me that they had notified our landlord of this problem in the past, and he said he had changed all of the locks: however, this is either not true or he gave everyone the master key. Regardless, I am able to access any door in the apartment that isn't chained and anyone would be able to walk into my apartment if it wasn't chained.
My landlord also has not given us a fire detector. We notified him our stove was broken on the 18th of last month and he has yet to send anyone out to fix it.
What do we do? Currently 2 months into a year long lease.

Update 1: Reached out to landlord. He said he hadn't been notified of the lock problem (I know he had). He said he was fixing it today. Got it in writing that he is fixing it TODAY. Calling the fire department after I get off work about the smoke detector problem. He said he "put in an order" to "his guy" to get our oven fixed and was like "oh it hasn't been fixed?" No. It hasn't dude.
Update 2: It wasn't fixed yesterday. He said he's getting it done today and is blaming the delay on his maintenance guy. I had to go to work but my friend is staying at her apartment to see what happens with this. We want to see a new lock go in these god damn doors. If it isn't fixed by tomorrow I'm doing it myself.

Answer:
 VA landlord here.  Generally speaking, if you need something done, put it in writing, send it USPS, certified mail, return receipt.  Be brief and polite, and keep a copy.

Most states allow tenants to change locks IF they also provide the landlord with a copy of the new key, but you usually cannot charge him for it.

Most states require landlords to fix appliances within a few days, especially if it's a health issue (like not being able to cook food).


Title: Is it legally animal abuse to stud a dog at 9 months of age?

Question:
I am not sure what animal abuse would be classified under but my buddy is going to stud his dog that is nine months old. Is this legal? If not what can I do?
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 Why wouldn't it be legal? Are you suggesting there is such a thing as a canine age of consent?

Whether your friend is running a BYB operation, or in violation of some local spay-neuter statute, or in violation of some breeder's contract that forbids it, would be impossible for us to know.


Title: A postal carrier forged a signature for my package, which was stolen afterwards. The post office has documented that he has admitted to this. What legal recourse is available to me?

Question:
I purchased an expensive Apple product on Amazon during Black Friday hoping for a discount. I made a really bad decision by purchasing from a third party seller on Amazon, that was not guaranteed by Amazon's A-Z policy. The package was carried by USPS on Priority Mail, requiring a signature by the recipient, and carrying insurance for up to 100$.

The product was valued at ~1000$.

When I checked the tracking the day the package was due to arrive, I discovered that it had already been marked as "delivered". I checked my front door, and my property for the package. The USPS tracking stated that the package had been signed for. I asked my family members if they had been home when the package had arrived, and no one was home at the time of delivery. I even went around the neighborhood asking if anyone had mistakenly signed for a package that was miscarried.

I sent a request to USPS for a Proof of Delivery email, and it showed that a complete stranger had signed for the package, alleging that he/she lived at my address. My entire family has ethnic first and last names, and none of my neighbors shared the 'actual recepient name' or signature.

I called my local post office inquiring about possible theft/mail fraud. The supervisor on the phone was able to ask the carrier who had delivered that package who he gave the package to. The carrier stated that he had given it directly to a resident of the address, saying it was an "elderly woman", referring to my grandmother. I asked my family members again if they had been home at the time, and no one was home at the time the carrier allegedly gave my package to an "elderly woman" who "lived there". After calling the postoffice again, the supervisor revealed that in fact the carrier admitted that he simply signed for the package himself and left the package at my doorstep.

Where the proof of delivery asks for the recipients name and recipients place of address, he put his name and my address on the form.

I have asked the postoffice supervisor to give documents that state, in writing, that this occurred, and that I did not receive my package. I have received this written statement, signed by the supervisor. I asked about any kind of compensation for their carrier's wrong doings, but I was only advised to ask Amazon for a refund.

I am reporting this to the USPS Office of Inspector General, but I am wondering if there are any legal options available for me to be compensated for the stolen item because of what occurred. I am also contacting the seller and the police for information to report my ~1000$ product as stolen, and asking for a refund, but I have little faith in recovery or getting a refund from the third party seller.

Answer:
 You shouldn't file with the seller but Amazon itself.  Amazon collected the payment, not the seller.  Amazon can refund the payment.

Amazon is notorious for siding with buyers.  Provide all proof.

Sucks for the seller for skimping on a carrier without decent insurance.Answer #2: NAL. In my humble opinion, be sure to follow up with USPS. The postal worker make a huge mistake signing for your package himself, and he should know better. It's a fireable offense.

Not advocating for him to lose his job, but people who make mistakes like this need to be held accountable. Answer #3: Amazon is very good with non receipt of item disputes. Give them a call and explain that the post office signed for the package and left it on your porch but it was stolen when you returned to pick it up. Amazon will usually send a replacement item for no charge/only shipping or offer a refund.

If Amazon is unable to resolve, contact your bank/credit card company with the phone number on the back of the card used as payment and file a non receipt of merchandise dispute. Just because there is a signature does not mean the package made it to you and your bank will most likely win the dispute with Amazon on your behalf and return the money to your account. Answer #4: Contact your credit card company. Your package was not delivered, they should at least start an investigation if not refund you with their insuranceAnswer #5: Contact the seller and ask if it was insured.  That is probably your best chance of being reimbursed.


Title: My Air Bnb “Host” is demanding 150 euros for a lock that we did not break and a hosting Air Bnb cancelled for our safety.

Question:
I am an American traveling in Europe so I’m not sure if I need to post on a different subreddit. This was in Paris this past week. So we arrived to our Air Bnb only to find that our host was not there. She was traveling. Her granddaughter answered with her boyfriend as our “hosts”. As two young girls in Europe alone, this already made us uneasy. When we arrived in our room, we found that our door neither shut nor locked. Making us even more uncomfortable. The lock was attached to fabric in the wall and a simple pull on the door released the lock and opened the door. After contacting Air Bnb, they attempted to contact the woman who was supposed to be our host. After no response, they cancelled our reservation and booked us in a hotel. Now, the granddaughter is demanding 150 euros through Air Bnb stating that we must have broken the lock and that the original host could not respond due to not speaking English or having good service.

Is there any merit to this? I’ve been trying to see Air Bnb’s rules for safety and hosting changes and I can’t find much.

Answer: Ignore direct contact from them and only speak through AirBnB.  Let AirBnB know the granddaughter is contacting you directly.Answer #2: AirBnb has a dispute system. As a host, if they think you did something wrong they need to document it all and submit it through the system, and you as a guest get to respond. Then AirBnb will make a ruling on it. Do you have photos of the lock? Did you route all your communications through AirBnb's website? Collect whatever evidence you have in case you need to respond to a dispute claim. Ignore everything outside of that.


Title: [US/TX] What can I do if my neighbor's dog keeps jumping over to my yard and attacking my dogs?

Question:
A bit of background info: Our rock wall is about 3 ft tall on our side, and maybe like 4 1/2 ft on their side. It is quite low, but our dogs are trained to not jump over. However they are capable of it, so they stay in a dog kennel while my boyfriend and I are at work. I get home at around 5 PM, and let them loose and this is the time we are having most issues. Our neighbors have three dogs: full grown mastiff, younger looking female Great Dane mix, and a Boston Terrier looking one. We also have three dogs (Great Dane, Shar Pei, and Old English Bulldog), and we are currently fostering a fourth (American Bulldog).

The female Great Dane was the first to start jumping over. She is very docile and not aggressive at all. It wasn't a big problem, except we don't know if she likes to dig (we have a nice lawn) or if she's vaccinated/etc. and she was drinking from out dogs water bowl (she actually looks a bit neglected and is really skinny, but that's another issue). The mastiff would usually not try to jump, but would bark endlessly. One time he did jump over. And I managed to get most of my dogs inside and the other just stayed sniffing him, not really aggressive behavior was shown by either except for a bit of growling, but lets be honest: who would come out losing between a mastiff and a Shar Pei? I was absolutely terrified. I love dogs, but I wont risk trying to get close to a dog I don't know, who is unleashed, and who is that big. I literally had to drive to the neighbors house and tell them that their dog was in my yard and ask them to get him out. My neighbor basically just said: "We'll keep a better eye on them, but don't worry, he doesn't bite".

The mastiff hasn't jumped since, but the female Great Dane keeps doing it. I have started hosing her down as soon as I see her standing on the rock wall, and that has been working to keep her out. But then this little shit of a Boston Terrier came into the picture. I don't know if its their new dog, or if they're dog-sitting for someone, I just started seeing him maybe since last week. He jumps into our yard, and my dogs naturally run after him, and he would jump back into his yard. Yesterday, my Shar Pei and American Bulldog cornered him and they started fighting and I hosed them down and my Shar Pei walked out with a cut on his face. Today the same thing happened, my Shar Pei and the American Bulldog went after him, and the American Bulldog had him pinned down. My boyfriend had to go in and separate the Bulldog, since he currently has a drain in his neck and it could've been ripped out. Again, my Shar Pei walked out with a cut on his ear (blood was drawn both times). I don't think the Boston Terrier had any injuries, and even after we went inside  he kept jumping back to our yard and even coming up to the back door and barking at us.

So basically we're at the point where I can't let my dogs loose in their own yard after they have been locked up all day because this little shit keeps jumping over and hurting my dog and risking getting hurt as well. So I want to know what are my options at this point before I write a mean letter to the neighbors, or start calling animal control.

TL:DR; Neighbor's dog jumped in my yard, injured my dog twice. pls help

Answer:
 If you don't want to write a letter or involve a dogcatcher, build a higher fence.

If somebody else's dog causes damage to your property (i.e., to your dog), the owner of the dog that caused the injury is responsible.  It's actually something that is covered under most homeowners' policies.  (look up "dog bite" cases in Texas).  You could probably get the vet bills paid if you wanted to.  It would not be my preferred method of winning the "neighbor of the year" award.

Yeah, they should chain their dogs if they can't keep them in their own yard, but I hate that.  If it was me, I'd talk to the neighbors and see if they would be willing to go in half on the cost of a privacy fence.Answer #2: Side note from a dane owner. They are supposed to be super skinny and have ribs showing like a greyhound.Answer #3: I would try and take the dogs to a dog park together so they can all get to know each other on friendly neutral territory.


Title: Mugshot Extortion Sites

Question:
Hi,

I live in North Carolina and have a question about the legality of Mugshot Extortion sites (companies that post mugshots online and charge several hundred dollars for their removal).  It appears there are laws against these sites in many states including NC - (http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/mug-shots-and-booking-photo-websites.aspx) but I still see mugshots for people in those states

Recently I hired a painter, despite the fact that his mugshot came up when I googled his name.  Since I hired him, I can't stop thinking about the fact that his mugshot is out there and likely costing him business.  While I could tell him about the mugshot being out there and let him pay $395 to have it removed, or pay it myself as a random act of kindness, I'd rather not support the jerks who make money off of this.

The website that I am specificalliy referring to is www.mugshots.com - when I googled the painters name, the #1 image result was a mugshot...

Any suggestions? Should I tell the painter about this, pay it off myself as a "pay it forward" act of kindness, or is there any legal footing with which to approach mugshots.com?  I already called them and they refused to budge.

Thanks,
Will

EDIT: Thanks all for your help, folks.  Will definitely be sharing with my painter.  Thanks!

Answer:
 I doubt there is a legal footing.  I have a feeling that the site is not hosted in one of the states that regulates these sites.  I bet it's not even in the US.Answer #2: Not a Lawyer

Don't pay. Tell the painter and give him a great professional reference. You are throwing money into the abyss.


Title: (Texas) my dad has custody of my 14 year old sister, but it was legally granted to my stepmom who claimed my dad abused her. My dad also pays my stepmom child support. He was diagnosed with cancer and can't get Medicaid without her paying child support. What can he do?

Question:
My stepmom and my dad adopted my sister who is now 14. They divorced in July last year after my stepmom had an affair and got pregnant (my dad had a vasectomy 27 years ago hence my sister's adoption). My stepmom claimed my dad was abusive, had him put on the state domestic violence watch list, and was granted full custody of my sister. My dad was allowed to have her every third weekend and to pick her up from school every Thursday. After a few months of that and my sister begging to live with my dad, my stepmom agreed to let me dad have her full time as long as he still pays her child support. From what I understand, my stepmom and my dad have to keep my sister in her same school. I guess that was part of her pushing for full custody because my stepmom thought if she could have custody, she could move. My dad and sister are in cedar park (Austin) and my stepmom moved to Houston after passing my sister off. She remarried in October last year and had her baby.

My stepmom is very abusive, I grew up with it too. I mean literally physically abusive, but also emotionally. I don't know if it's been documented or not.

Now my dad has been diagnosed with cancer. He can't get Medicaid unless my stepmom pays child support and he's already struggling to pay for the treatments.

He is a good person. He gives everything to my sister and sacrifices a lot. I'm in CA and I can't help too much, but I try here and there when I can.

What can he do? ANY advice would be appreciated.

Answer: He can go back to court and have the custody order amended.


Title: Quick! I have court in an hour! Am I allowed to bring up someone’s mental disability in court?

Question:
I have received a temporary protection order over my former roommate. Since he was served with the papers, my family stepped in and facilitated his move-out from my house (got him a uhaul, helped him pack, bought him a storage unit, etc.) all in an attempt to just.. get him out of there ASAP!

He has complied with the order, hasn’t attempted any contact at all... and this morning is my hearing.

If the judge asks me if I still feel unsafe, I do. Why? Because he randomly decides to go off his medication, and then gets crazy and violent!

He claimed he simply had ADD when moving in, but then later admitted during one of his episodes that he is manic depressant and hadn’t been taking his meds.

Answer: You can discuss that his behavior changes when he does not take his meds, yes. It seems to be highly relevant to the case.


Title: [RI] Town shoots cannons off in park.

Question: Quick context. Live next to a small park in a small town in RI where they shoot off a damn civil war cannon every time there’s a parade or event in the park. It shakes all the houses in a mile radius and scares the shit out of all the animals, especially my dog. She gets panic attacks so bad that she is even prescribed Xanax by our vet. Sometimes I’ll work 2nd or even 3rd shift and there’s nothing like being woken up by a cannon blasting off like it’s 1863. I’ve complained through the towns website and issued formal complaints but not sure what my options are other than that or moving.... thanks in advance for the help even if I’m screwed

Answer: Complain directly to your local elected representative.


Title: Kicked out of apartment after dispute with roommates and just paid rent for the month

Question:
On the 2nd I paid our landlord 600$ for rent the month of February, on the 4th I got in to an argument with my roommates they told me they wanted me gone, today day the locks got changed, I need some advice on how to proceed, I know that legally I have 30 days but they want me out now and I don't feel comfortable staying there, what are my options to get my money back? I told them I want my share of the rent back but they pretty much told me to f*** off.

Please help, what should I do next?

this is in Canada

UPDATE: I went to the apartment this morning when nobody was there to get the rest of my stuff and all my belongings were missing, last night my roommate threatened to throw out all my shit so I went to the police station and filled a police report, the police called my roommate and I don't know if he is playing dumb or if he plans on returning my stuff but he said my stuff was still at the apartment.

More questions: Should I talk to the landlord about my situation? Is there anyway they might be able to help me out, I don't expect them to refund my rent as they are not who's preventing me from living there

Answer:
 document document document.

sue them in small claims court.  Answer #2: They did not and still do not have the authority to evict you; your landlord does. You need to talk to him about the situation now.Answer #3: If you want back, you can call the police to be allowed entry. Changing the locks was illegal, and very likely a violation of the lease (if there is one).Answer #4: Are you on the lease? If so, you would still be accountable for rent payments and any damage they do to the place after you leave. Absolutely talk to your landlord!


Title: If someone is preventing me from getting in my car and driving away from a contentious situation, is it assault if I physically move them out of the way?

Question:
This is something that I've been stewing over for the past couple of weeks, ever since a pretty ridiculous incident with a neighbor. Here's what happened; I'll try and keep it short.

We live in a quiet little suburban neighborhood. Our neighbors down the street, both doctors from Eastern Europe, have kids around the same age as ours. We got to know them, and for a while, we were very friendly. We got together fairly often for dinner or whatever, the kids went to each other's birthday parties, and so on. The one nagging issue in the relationship was that their older kid and our older kid (both 9 years old now) were not a good match as friends. They both have very dominant personalities. They'd get along sometimes, but fights - physical fights - were a common occurrence.

The fighting between them eventually spilled over into their lives at school. We did everything we could to try and get it to stop, working with the teachers and the principal. Nevertheless, from what we understand, our son's friends eventually took his side and basically shunned the other kid, who was obviously upset by this, but what his parents did in response shocked everyone - they pulled him out of the school and sent him to private school.

This was a year ago. They sent us a barrage of angry texts letting us know that they blame our kid, and us, for forcing them to pull their kid out of school.

So anyway! Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I gave my son and a friend of his permission to ride their scooters around the neighborhood one afternoon, after giving them a little lecture about where they weren't allowed to go, etc. A half hour later, they still weren't back, so I got in the car to go check on them.

I found them not far from home, cornered by the aforementioned eastern European mom, who was reaming them out for some reason while blocking them from moving with her bicycle. I pulled over, got out, and asked her what was going on. "Your son yelled something at my house! He's harrassing and bullying my son just like he did at school!" She's livid, staring daggers at me.

Super long story short on her accusations: Nope! Her husband, a decent guy, called me later to let me know that his wife had admitted to him that she had heard them being loud on the street and just assumed that it was aimed at her son, *who wasn't even home.* But anyway.

Both boys looked terrified, and my son's friend was sobbing, so I corralled them into my car. While I was loading the boys into the car, she opened the driver's door and leaned into the car to continue berating the boys.

At this point, my first prerogative was getting the boys away from her... but she was in my way, leaning into my driver's seat. I'm six-four, 220. She's a very petite woman, maybe five-two and literally half my weight. I said in my clearest command voice, "You need to get out of the way." She looked up at me, gave me a smug little look, and went back to yelling at the boys.

What happened next happened fast. I lost my temper. I took a step toward her. She looked up again and whatever she saw in my expression changed her mind about standing her ground. She darted out of the way. I don't know what she did after that because I just hopped in the car and drove off. But I do know one thing - if she hadn't moved, I was going to move her.

So that's the thing I keep coming back to. If I'd shoved her out of the way in that situation, would that have been assault? She was preventing me from getting into my vehicle in order to remove my son and his friend from a bad situation that she had created. But does that justify me putting my hands on her?

Answer: Was your option your only means of escape, or could you have retreated via other means?


Title: [CA] Bank Employee accidentally took money out of my account and gave it to random person in another state. Options?

Question:
 So yesterday I got a low balance alert from my bank, which was weird because I had several hundred dollars in my account. Upon checking I saw there was a withdrawal posted that I didn't make and worried about fraud. After doing some digging on my end I ended up talking to the branch where the withdrawal happened as well as the claims department for the bank. Bank was in AZ.

 It turns out that an employee of the bank mistakenly wrote down my account number instead of the person making the withdrawal. I'm now without any money until payday. The Claims Department said it will take around 30 days to get my money back even though they made the mistake. Do I have any options against the bank?

*Update: I was able to finally get in touch with the Executives Offices of my bank, and after talking to someone they immediately refunded my money and removed all overage charges and fees. I'm still going to go to another bank though because the BS I had to put up with. Also if you're thinking of opening an account with a bank that rhymes with BASE I highly recommend you look elsewhere. Thanks to everyone for the advice.

Answer:
 Often the bank will have an "office of the president" complaints line (with smarter employees who can act faster to resolve complaints that don't get handled by the front line).

Also, there will be a state banking regulator you can complain to.

Also, you can complain to the CFPB (federal).

The bank certainly has the authority to credit your account for the disputed amount while they do their investigation.  Feel free to call them often and request that.

Only if you've exhausted all the normal complaint channels would any legal action be considered.Answer #2: File a report with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Also, after this is resolved, please find a new bank. Not all banks are bad, and a good bank would have credited your account right away.


Title: [Indiana] Landlord erroneously reported me to the police for drug activity. What can I expect, and should I worry?

Question:
My landlord recently changed when the property was sold. As part of the new property management company taking over, they inspected all the apartments. I was given adequate notice, and have no problems with that.

I have a collection of pipes, cigars, and a shisha (hookah) that I purchased in Kuwait several years ago. Evidently, this lead the property management company to conclude that I was smoking marijuana, and to report me for drug use to the local metro PD.

A police officer came by my apartment last night and told me all of this. I explained that I smoked exclusively tobacco. I showed him everything in my humidor including my pipe tobacco. He seemed satisfied but told me that he would have to file a report and that it should be available online within the week.

Is there a chance that the police might pursue this, and if they do, what can I expect? I realize that we get a lot of bullshit posts on here, but I swear that I'm not a pothead, just pretentious. Nothing has been through any of these items but tobacco.

Answer:
 > Is there a chance that the police might pursue this

Unlikely given what you have described.Answer #2: Let's say they come back with a search warrant because the officer thought you were lying and had the marijuanas hidden in a wall safe or underground bunker. They'll search through all your shit and make a giant mess and won't find anything. It's pretty unlikely though, even if you're too ~~sexy~~ pretentious for your shirt.Answer #3: > I swear that I'm not a pothead, just pretentious.

Line of the week, here, folks.  Answer #4: The entire idea that the police would show up and waste time and taxpayer money to investigate someone smoking marijuana at home just boggles my mind.

Answer #5: > Is there a chance that the police might pursue this

I don't see why. The officer already investigated and left without arresting you.


Title: Lawyers of Reddit, can I get my Grand Theft case dismissed?

Question:
I got arrested for Grand Theft and it was counted as a felony. My papers say "487 P.C. (F)" and it's my first offense. I made $1350 in profit from the things I took (they basically have no value outside of my ex-work place) I also got released from jail after 14 hours in there on OR so is that gonna help me? The money was for my family's mortgage since my parents lost both their jobs, not for a shopping spree

My question to you is Since this is my first offense, I'm 19, going to plead guilty, is there anyway I could get the case dismissed or at least down to a misdemeanor?
Also, how much would a lawyer cost for this case?

I know it's a long shot but I just want some advice from lawyers that aren't trying to sell themselves to me...and I got chewed up when I posted this in Askreddit lol so here I am!

In California as well

Answer:
 **GET A LAWYER.**

A felony conviction is NO JOKE.  You will likely be unable to vote or own a firearm and will have a black mark on any job application you ever file for the rest of your life.

**You can't plead guilty and have a case dismissed.**  A competent attorney may be able to work out a plea deal with the DA and your charge may be able to be reduced to a misdemeanor.

The money you spend on a lawyer will be minor compared to the lifetime earnings loss you'll experience with a felony conviction on your record.  Take a Public Defender if you're flat broke.


Title: Executor said to call him today to discuss giving my mom more time to clean out an estate now refuses to talk. [MO]

Question: Our executor (and attorney at litem) of my grandmas estate said our last day to clean out the house is Monday. My mom was left all items in her moms house. He said call on Monday and we would discuss giving us extra time to clean, Well it's Monday and called him and he said he refuses to talk to us and only will go through lawyers. We don't want to use lawyers because the fees would be huge and we are dealing with a time crunch. Besides, isn't it the executors duty to talk to all heirs and discuss??

Answer: You don't need a lawyer to talk to his lawyer. Just contact his lawyer to get this issue wrapped up.


Title: Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is going to remove light poles and other property from a portion of my property

Question:
I am fine with the state using a portion of my property for up to 3 years. The state is going to widen the street on one side of the property that sits on a busy corner.

My problem is that TDOT offered me a sum of money for using the land based on their own appraisal estimate.  Their estimate to replace the trees, shrubs, sprinkler system, and light poles is much lower than the cost estimates I received from vendors to replace the property TDOT will remove while they widen the road.
I told the TDOT representative that their estimate was not realistic.  TDOT then raised the amount they will pay me but I think their new figure is still low by over $20,000. I would rather not accept their money and have them agree to make me whole by replacing the property they are removing. However, this is not how they operate.
Should I go to a court hearing to try and receive a fair price to replace the items or should I accept their offer since I am not a lawyer and going to court would not be cost beneficial?

Answer:
 It's an eminent domain seizure?

You need to hire a lawyer experienced with negotiating with the state on matters like this. He can get them to make you a fair offer based on how much property they're taking, the costs to fix what will be displaced, etc.