Title: So I want to become an astronaut and I have some questions about medical records.

Question:
Hi everyone, thanks for reading. I'm in college and beginning to start considering seriously trying to become an astronaut. I have some questions about medical records however.

When I was a teenager I had some very shitty friends and a very shitty family situation that eventually led to a brief mental health hospitalization. I was a sad, anxious kid in a shitty situation, and I was extremely pissed off that it happened at the time and now because it's not what was needed at all, just some people seriously overreacting that I didn't have control over. I was never diagnosed with anything, got out after the bare minimum (like three days) of time there, and quickly ceased contact with the people who had gotten me in this situation.

Do you think that this could come up in the process of screening for becoming an astronaut? I was a minor at the time and I've never been able to figure out who has access to these kind of things. My current health insurance provider doesn't know that this happened. I don't want to get my hopes up if it's 100% going to take me out of the running. I'm in the USA obviously. I'd rather not give my state if possible but I can if it makes a difference.

Thanks so much for your input.

Answer:
 They will have access to those records because you will assuredly sign paperwork *granting* them access to all of your medical records during the selection process.

I don't know if anyone here can say if it will keep you out, but the best advice I can give is just "be honest about it if asked."Answer #2: >Do you think that this could come up in the process of screening for becoming an astronaut?

Almost certainly, and don't lie about it.

Whether or not it will disqualify you isn't really a legal question.  Maybe someone at /r/NASA can help.Answer #3: It will likely come up.  From a legal standpoint, they almost certainly have the right, as a potential employer of that nature (federal government, super tough job, etc) to ask for that information.

Now, consider this: Sally Ride became an astronaut as a lesbian in the late 1970's/early 1980's.  You are very young I gather, but if you are able to grasp the historical context of Ms. Ride's career, you will understand that, if being hospitalized as an awkward teen for a few days is the only strike against you, I look forward to seeing you land on Mars someday.

Be open and honest about everything, and good luck.


Title: Landlord holding deposit and charging additioinal $1800 (California)

Question:
I recently moved out of a 2 bed 2 bathroom unit in Vista, CA. The management company sent us a bill for the unit of over $1800 on top of the $1200 deposit they are keeping. When we signed the lease we were told that we would not be responsible for the carpet or the paint when we moved out being that we lived there for over a year. They also stated the same thing during the initial inspection before the final inspection. They required us to pay to have the carpet professionally cleaned, which we did. They are now charging us to have the carpet completely replaced, claiming that they found animal urine in every room. We never had an animal in the unit aside from my goldfish.

 They are also charging us to paint the walls even though we were told to simply Spackle over any holes and not worry about paint. They are also charging outrageous fees to replace a few blinds that we broken. I replaced the blinds on the sliding door with a pack i bought at Home Depot for $14 yet they are charging $10 each to replace smaller ones on the windows (Which I didn't replace because i couldnt find the size). What can I do?
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: Send a demand letter for your deposit, and if they don't send it back, sue them.


Title: [TX] If I work commission is it ok for my boss to give away my services?

Question: I work in a men's salon in Texas. We are strictly commission. I just found out that the percentages are different for different people. He just opened a second location in a very wealthy area. Needless to say it's slow going getting clientele. He is now giving away free hair cuts to gain clients, and just asking them to tip. Is this even legal? He did this once with our permission, it didn't work out as well as we wanted, however in the new shop we don't have the established clientele to keep us afloat. He did not ask us this time.

Answer: IANAL but as a W2 employee you don't get a say on if he runs a promotion. However, even through you are based on commission, they still have to guarantee you at least minimum wage for the time you worked. If your tips don't bring you up to minimum wage then they need to cover the difference. Answer #2: Are you a contractor?


Title: Pregnant with foreign nationals child (Florida)

Question:
My ex BF is a srilankan and is on F1 visa , I am 12 weeks pregnant , he wanted me to get an abortion so we got into this fight and I dumped him. I am still married but separated and receive trimedical care from my husband. I haven't told my husband about pregnancy yet.

I have following questions

1) will my husbands name will be on birth certificate?

2) will my husband ever know that I have a kid with another men ? ( I want to keep it a secret as he is abusive)

3) I'm unemployed so if I apply for assistance from the state , will my husband or my ex BF have to pay child support?

4) my ex boyfriend is not allowed to work under the current visa , so how can I make him pay CS?

5) How can I relocate if my ex BF decides to move to other states or back to his country? I heard it's difficult to find people if they move to other states or impossible if the moves back to his country.

6) I'm due in March and my child's bio dad will be done with his degree in December , so how can I make sure he doesn't leave the country?

7) Also can I make sure that bio dad doesn't get any custody as he is a jerk .

Answer: If you are using his insurance for pre-natal care and he is looking at the claims or receiving EOB statements it will be pretty obvious eventually. And if you haven't been intimate with him it will be pretty obvious he isn't the father either. But he will legally be the father unless you somehow manage to get a divorce while pregnant which isn't easy.  And if you can't find the bio dad it will be impossible to establish paternity. Your whole post is like one bad decision after another.


Title: My pregnant wife has been denied maternity pay, suspecting employer loophole/fraud

Question:
I'm not sure about the rest of the world but in the UK maternity pay is based on 2 "qualifying" months where the company work out your average earnings in a 2 month period to see if you earn enough to get maternity pay.

A bit of backstory: My wife suffered more than usual pregnancies in the early stages with severe sickness which made her unable to work for many occasions, but most relevant is a 2 week period in June (4 months ago). They got pretty assy about the whole thing but hey, if she couldn't physically work she couldn't work.

On payday of July they messed up her pay and paid her a full months salary instead of sick pay, so the next month they only paid her a half months salary to recover their accident. Which was fine... But.

Fastforward to now: We've just tried to get maternity pay arranged a week ago, and suddenly they are trying to say that because her payslip in July only says half pay, she is therefore ineligible for maternity pay because it's brought her average "qualifying months earnings" below the threshold... But hold on a minute, it's only below that threshold because they messed up in the first place by overpaying her! And by docking her salary in that particular month has messed the equation up! Is this correct? It all feels very iffy and planned.

I thought the normal way to recover overpaid salary would be to state how much she actually earned on the payslip that month, then minus what needed to come back just like tax. But it actually says she earned half that month.

They are suggesting we get maternity pay from the state which is significantly less, and even sent us all the relevant forms conveniently pre-filled in ink without us asking, so it feels like they're making it very (too) easy to simply sign the dotted line and get state benefit rather than from them... Again, fishy...

We're communicating via email now to keep everything logged. I'm fully willing to take this to small claims court if it goes that far but I just want to know if I have a case. Are they able to do this? Anything we can do?

It looks to me like this was premeditated. Her work doesn't like her and we get a strong feeling they are trying to sack and/or avoid paying her at all costs.

Thanks for your help!

Answer:
 I'd ring up the numbers at the bottom of [this link?](https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/pay)

/r/legaladviceuk might have more Brits than there are here.


Title: (Oregon) cited DUII, blew .000

Question: So I got arrested FOR a DUII back in 2015. But I agreed to a breathylizer test twice. I blew .000 both times. And still I was stuck in the holding cell for 7 hours. I had my car impounded and my fingerprints put in the system. But nothing ever came of it...So now, I'm trying to get a job and it's saying that Im not clear.....Help?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Answer:
 What do you mean that nothing ever came of it? You mean you were never charged?

Does your background check just say you were arrested? Or that there is a pending charge?


Title: Besides a scan of my driver's license and a credit report, can a landlord demand a scanned copy of my passport and/or birth certificate?

Question:
I just signed a month-to-month lease with a landlord and did a one-month's rent + deposit check. In person when we met, she mentioned getting a scan of all her previous tenants' driver's license, which I understood. Her rationale is that she has a toddler at home and she wanted to "feel safe". After signing the lease (and returning to my home in a different state), now she's asking for these additional documents, such as the passport and the birthcert. I flat out refused the passport, but now she said ok, but she'd like a scanned copy of my birthcert instead. Am I overthinking it or should I go with my gut that I should never hand over to an individual a copy of my passport let alone my birthcert? I'm in the USA, but my birthcert is not from the USA (if this matters at all).

Thanks in advance reddit.
P.S. I posted it in Askreddit initially but it got removed by the bot...so here I am!

EDIT: Thank you so much folks! I knew something didn't sit right with me when she started asking for my passport/birthcert. It's good to get more proper legal heads to reaffirm my gut reaction. Lol.

Answer:
 Do not give her a copy of your birth certificate. It is too easy to use the information for fraud and/or identity theft. Answer #2: She doesn't need that information.  You already signed a lease and she has to uphold it.  Don't send her a copy of it.  The drivers' license should be plenty.Answer #3: Not even the government uses a birth certificate for confirming identity. Not sure what she's getting at here, but I'd tell her no. Make sure to get a copy of that lease with her signature, though, just in case.Answer #4: What I would do is tell her no about the copy of the birth certificate.

She sounds like she has some issues with paranoia. So if she refuses to rent to you after you tell her no take her to small claims court for breach of contract.  Get all the money you're out, and take it as a sign from God. Because she doesn't sound like someone you want to be renting from anyway.


Title: (WI) Insurer (admittedly) mailed check to in network healthcare provider. Provider claims check not received. Collection agency after me.

Question:
Hello,

About a week ago I was called by a debt collection agency for the amount of $1513.00 for a medical bill they could not discuss. They began asking for Name, DOB, etc and I was concerned it may be a scam so I ignored it. I received a letter in the mail 2 days later from the same agency and looked them up online, they are legitimate: https://www.americollectpay.com/dwl/info

So I call my insurer (Bluecross Blue Shield) and they confirm they were billed for the medical procedure (ER visit actually) and cut and mailed a check. The customer support agent working the case said the hospital billing department has not confirmed they received the check yet. The ER visit was in august of 2016, so this is well past mail being slow.

She then said at this time what they can do is mail me a check for $1400~ to pay the debt collector to stop calling me. She has said many times "This is extremely rare, never happens, were very sorry, etc" Which I appreciate, but frankly I just want it fixed.

So my question is what to do now? If I take this check and cover the difference, I am:

1. Out $100~ on no fault of my own (but whatever)
2. I have this stain on my otherwise great credit. I have never owed more than a credit card bill (intentionally) and suddenly this appears.

I want the provider/insurer/collector to make it as though this never happened. A check to make the collector go away doesn't erase the fact that it appears I was not solvent on my medical bills to creditors.

Finally; Should I ask them for something extra to compensate me? Because honestly this is bullshit to deal with, and I have a collector and a case worker calling me every morning/evening now.

Thanks in advanced for any advice, it is much appreciated. Excuse my unfiltered language please.

EDIT: Update 1 - I called the number for the provider, and asked to speak to their billing department, but it was closed. I will call back during normal business hours. I also found a template for  debt validation letter and will go mail that from my office on Monday. Thank you to everyone so far.

EDIT: Update 2 - I am on the phone with he billing department now(mon 9:30am CST). They are trying to claim that the insurer paid ME directly for this. I have never received a check, and even if I did there is still the creditor issue. I said that even if I DO receive he check that is unacceptable because paying the debt collector would be admitting I wasn't solvent (when the bill was never mine to begin with). I am making them get on a 3 way call with provider, insurer, myself. Once they determine the payment correction I will press the issue of the debt collector.

EDIT: Update 3 - The provider's office is claiming they will call the agency to remove the debt, and work out the payment with the insurer - but now I am on hold.

EDIT: Update 4 - The provider says the collection agency has not contacted the credit agency yet. The collector says that they will erase the debt and stop contacting me. Now the insurer/provider will work out the payment with each other. Maybe if I am lucky both parties will waive my patient portion.

Thanks everyone for the continuous help, seems this will be resolved favorably.

Answer: I work for a doctors office with billing. So, if the payment was never received and the account was sent to collections, depending on how long ago it was sent, we can usually pull those accounts back. That way you can pay directly with the provider and also hopefully not have the collections on your credit. Just call the provider, as someone else has said, and find out about getting that account paid off.


Title: [CA] Table walked out on their bill and owner says it's legal for him to make me pay for it due to "negligence" on my part.

Question:
Story time... (I'll try to make it short)
Okay, so. I work at a restaurant and we had 40 people come in all at once and flood the restaurant. It was just me and one other server handling these people and our already current tables. As you can imagine, we were slammed. One of my co-worker's tables flagged me down and asked if they could order some food since he was busy with another table. I got their order in and when I put it in the computer there was only one check for that table. Later, it turned out that the table wanted separate checks; so everything was divided up accordingly and when everyone paid, they all left. Now, I assume that these 2 guys figured their stuff was already on the bill for everyone else's, I don't think they meant to dine-n-dash, but they were gone. It was not my section, but I did put their order in. I wasn't really bothering with that table because I was way too busy with my section. So when we close out all the tickets, we see there's one left, which was the order I put in that my coworker separated from the rest of the bills.
We had to void the ticket since there was no payment for it.

The owner comes in about 30 minutes later and asks me if I know who has to pay for it when something like this happens. I thought he was asking a rhetorical question, but he then answered his own question, saying that I was responsible and had to pay for it. I asked him:

"Isn't that illegal"

To which he replied that I can look it up and that it's only illegal if I break a dish or drop the food and then he makes me pay for it. He justified it by saying it's legal for him to make me pay due to negligence on my part and that there are laws that state that.

It's only a $20 tab, so I'm not making a big deal about it, but I don't like the fact that he expects me to pay for a table who walked out which wasn't even in my section.

I get that there was a lack of communication and I fucked up somewhat, to which I apologized, but this can't be legal, can it?

Another small note (unrelated)
But... I have worked there for a year, working 6-8 hour shifts and have literally not had a single break. So if he is going to try and hang shit over my head, then can I hold this over his head?

Answer:
 It's not legal in California.  He can't deduct it from your wages, and according to [wage order 5](http://www.dir.ca.gov/iwc/wageorder5_010102.html):

>No employer shall make any deduction from the wage or require any reimbursement from an employee for any cash shortage, breakage, or loss of equipment, unless it can be shown that the shortage, breakage, or loss is caused by a dishonest or willful act, or by the **gross negligence** of the employee.

You can tell him to get stuffed.  But due to your at-will employment, he can likewise tell you to take a hike.  It really boils down to how much you like, want, or need that job.


Title: Racism on display at Boston train station

Question:
I was at the train station at Sullivan Square in Boston last night when a man loudly told a bunch of Vietnamese people to speak English as they spoke to one another. He repeated what he said a couple of times.
I, along with another man spoke up and said, Hey, none of that! He stopped talking at that point.
Any thoughts on this? Should we just chalk it up to bad behavior we have to live with?

Answer: Telling people to speak English is not illegal.   Other than what you did, I'm not sure what you are looking for.


Title: Private University - Punished for Disability I was unaware of (MA)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You need to speak to a lawyer.

However, as a sub rule, we can't give specific recommendations. Research local legal aid groups, contact your state bar association for recommendations, and contact other rights groups.

With it being a private university they are going to have wider latitude in there decisions. So even if there is a precedent elsewhere, it may have no impact on your situation.Answer #2: > reasonable accommodation

Hitting somebody isn't a reasonable accomodation, so I have no idea why they bring that up.


Title: [Ohio] Can I sign my rights away?

Question:
A group of adult friends wants to get together at a local sports complex (think baseball cages, baseketball courts, etc) in the near future. The complex makes everyone who comes in sign a waiver of liability before they can do any of the activities. How enforceable is this? Assuming someone does injure themselves would they be able to ask the complex for any medical costs they incur?

Would it be different for minor children?

Answer:
 It's enforceable in most cases.

Too fact specific for a response -- there's a whole body of law dedicated to this area.

If the parents signed on behalf of the child it is enforceable to the same extent as if an adult signed on behalf of himself.  Answer #2: Generally speaking these sorts of ~~closets~~ clauses are only enforceable with regards to to simple negligence. If the thing that caused your injury rose to the level of gross negligence it wouldn't be legally enforceable, in most cases.

Edited to fix speech to text mistake.


Title: Landlord trying to force us out, change locks, bringing moving truck

Question: Ashland City, TN So here's the situation, my dad has lived in this condo for 10 years. Both him, me, and my two brothers live here now. There is no lease, everything has been verbal. He has paid him every month, and the agreement was that this would be going toward the mortgage, so essentially we we're buying the condo. We gave him 20k down payment for the condo. So there's a contract saying we bought the condo, but he went through some health issues and there's another contract showing he sold it back to him for 1$. He kept this money but there's not a record of the money put down on the condo. (Yes this was very stupid but they were best friends for a long time and we never thought he would do this to us) So for the last 4 months he has been calling us telling us to get out, but he has not served an eviction notice. He has also accepted every month of rent. He came by a week ago and said we have until this Monday to get out and he is bringing a truck to move our stuff and someone to change the locks. There is record of him paying the rent/mortgage. Mainly he is doing this because of personal disagreements with my dad, and again there is no lease agreement for us to have broken. We live in a small county that is not covered by the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (URLTA). As far as I can tell he has no right to do this, but I can't find the laws for this county online. What should we do?

Answer: You need a real estate attorney ASAP. There is a reason why rent to own is not done often, and it’s never a good idea to make such an arrangement based on a handshake and an understanding.Answer #2: You need to get a lawyer STAT. This is a mess. Changing the locks and getting a truck may just be a threat. If he does follow through, then that's illegal. At the very least you need that ownership morass cleared up.


Title: [NY] Seatbelt violation. Worth it to plead not guilty?

Question:
Was pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt on a highway (next to a truck doing 5-10 over the speed limit, but whatever)

I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it to plead not guilty and get a lesser fine, but for just a seatbelt violation in NY would that just lead to more issue? Anyone know how much the fine typically is and how much it may impact insurance?

Thanks!

Answer:
 I believe that's a no points and low fine violation, so not really worth your time to fight it. From a New York traffic attorney's web site about when to just pay the fine:

>The only time you should plead guilty and not fight a ticket is when there are NO points involved, you have no legal defense, and there is no remedy possible – such as a ticket for Driving without a Seatbelt. No points, minimal fine, and no way to correct – YOU MIGHT AS WELL PLEAD GUILTY AND PAY!


Title: Broke lease to move for a job, now landlord property company is trying to charge me $5000

Question: I lived at this place for a couple years and had to break my lease to move for work. I broke the lease and moved out, now they sent me a bill for $5000 (month rent was 700) for rent after months I moved out, fees, cleaning, paperwork, gas, and all these other items. They also kept my 1100$ deposit. Advice?

Answer: How much of your lease did you have left and what were the terms for breaking it?


Question:
On my way home last week, had a partial seizure at a train station in London. When it started i managed to fall onto the live electric tracks, when being assisted back up i then apparently grabbed onto two of those people in a violent manner, getting one into a headlock (according to witness statements) as they continued to restrain me (which will only make me more violent in a seizure).
I'm now being charged with criminal trespassing and 2x common assault?!
Don't know where to go from here, even my solicitor said having the seizure could be MY FAULT?! I could be put to blame? WTF?!?!?! PLEASE IF ANYONE HAS EVER EXPERIENCED ANY SITUATION LIKE THIS AND HAS ANY INFORMATION THAT COULD HELP, PLEASE PASS IT ON!
Not only has this condition completely f'ed up my entire outlook on life already, as a student in university getting a criminal record at this age (22) simply for having a disability i have no control over, is the LAST THING i need.
(Apparently during the seizure i also tried to grab someones phone. What the staff don't seem to understand is, at the time i was carrying my £2,000 Macbook Pro on me, as well as my suitcase filled with endless items that could be used to easily identify me as an individual, WHY ON EARTH would i drop those on the platform to grab a cheap little phone off someone?! Not to mention the fact that if someone has the slightest bit of common sense they'd be aware the UK just came out of critical terror alert that week, all the stations would have had fifty cctv cameras for each individual passing through. This just wouldn't have been worth the risk at all)

If possible please copy any advice to [r/epilepsy](
I've been arrested and charged for having a seizure in public?)

Answer:
 /r/LegalAdviceUK. Answer #2: Definitely follow the other suggestions and post to /r/LegalAdviceUK

On a separate note, both my parents have epilepsy (my father had grand mal and my mother has petit mal (or whatever they call that now).  I have never seen either of them have anything close to a violent outburst in relation to a seizure.  I'm not saying it's not possible but just pointing out you absolutely need to make sure you have a formal diagnosis from a medical doctor.  Perhaps there is something else going on here in addition to the epilepsy and that may help in courtAnswer #3: Getting a diagnosis is the first step.

The defence that would likely be relied upon is Automatism.  Its a rare defence but also a complete answer to the charges as you would not have had the requisite mens rea (you lacked the intention to commit the offence).


Title: Caught my property manager trying to rip me off.

Question:
I own a single family home that is thousands of miles away from where I live.  Six months ago, I hired a property manager to list, rent out, and manage this property.  Recently, tenant claimed the oven quit working.  Property manager claimed they sent a repair man to service the oven.  Two weeks later, repairman/property manager claimed that a "repair" would cost $500 and he suggests just buying a new oven and that he could conveniently sell me a used oven for $350.  I was skeptical and asked for a detailed break down of the pricing and the problem.  Property manager just said "half parts and half labor" and said that this repair man is legit and that they trust.  I was still skeptical so I sent a local friend in to take a look.  Friend got the oven working simply by unplugging it for 60 seconds then plugging it back in.  Tenant claims that no repair man was ever actually sent to the property to look at the oven.  Tenant did receive a phone call where they verbally described the problem to someone over the phone.

I have some questions:  This property manager and/or repair man was clearly trying to rip me off because they know that I'm out of state and/or they're hoping that i'm stupid.  Did they do anything that's illegal?  What should I do?  I really like my tenant and don't want to lose them.  But I don't want my property managed by fraudulent criminals who are going to try stealing my money (and working appliances) every chance they get.  Should I tell the property manager that I'm on to his fraudulent business practices?  Or should I just proceed with caution and always use my own contractors from now on (but then what the hell is the point of having a property manager in the first place if I'm doing that?).

 **Additional details:**

 * The tenant claims that it took about 2-3 weeks from the time they first emailed the property management company with the claim that the oven quit working until the time I (the property owner) had to get involved because the property manager finally gave me the $500 estimate from the so-called "repairman" who never really showed up.  From my perspective, here is what I saw.  1.)  Property manager emailed me saying tenant was having an issue with the oven.  2.) I heard nothing for nearly two weeks after the property manager "dispatched a repair man" and then was offered a sketchy $500 repair estimate.  The tenant has cited delays in the response time of "repairman" she spoke with on the phone and with the property manager.

 * I've been using the property management company for about 6 months now.  This is the first "issue" with an appliance.

 * The property is located in Pennsylvania.

 * I paid the property manager to draw up the lease and find a tenant.  I also pay them a monthly % management fee.

TL;DR I caught my property manager attempting to take advantage of me.
Topic:
Real Estate law

Answer:
 If this is an agent of a company, send your property manager an email, and CC his manager/boss on it, detailing that you aren't going to purchase the oven, no repair man ever inspected the oven according to the tenant, and a friend was able to fix the oven with a simple power cycle.  Ask for a new agent, or find a new company.

If the agent working for you is the manager/boss, fire him and find a new company.Answer #2: Please note, there is also a slim chance that your PM is honest and was himself ripped off by a dishonest contractor.

You can confront them but they will probably just say that the tenant is lying to you and the repairman really did show up, etc. Using your own contractors is safer in the meantime, but I would change PMs as soon as possible.Answer #3: I've had similar scams by property managers, enough so that I fired them all and manage my own units now.  One stole $250 a month in laundry quarters.  I only caught it because I randomly decided to bring the quarters to the bank by myself one month and it came up $300 more than usual (this was for a 40-unit so $700 a month in quarters isn't unusual).

In my opinion, even if your property manager isn't "stealing" directly they're lazy and rip you off most of the time for not doing enough work.

It comes down to that no one will ever care as much about your buildings as you will.


Title: My boss required me to become a registered behavior technician (paid for, by her) or I'd be fired. After completing and submitting my work, she is refusing to pay for my course work, and is now trying to charge me. I have written documentation of everything. OHIO

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 It sounds like there's some sort of a scam going here, but typically I would expect she has kept the payment for herself. Otherwise she would have quoted you a reasonable amount, you would pay, be registered and most people would eventually give up chasing her for the money.

The fact that she's actively blocking you registering makes me think there is something you'll uncover when you do; she hasn't passed some money to them, the training wasn't approved, it's linked to a friend etc.

Was there any registration fee initially that you were required to pay to her? Answer #2: I work in a similar field. Is there a chance your company is billing at a higher rate with this new title? Why would they send you for the training and not use it? Perhaps she is holding the certs from you so you don't leave. I'm only curious and not giving advice.Answer #3: Print out those emails! You never know when they might wipe the system, especially if they think you're getting legal advice.


Title: Out of state, broke, being summoned for "Theft", won't tell me anything more than that.

Question: I'm from Illinois, and moved out of state. I got a subpoena for November 4th in the mail in Illinois (2000 miles away) to go to court. I called the court house, who put me through to the states attorney who just said "Theft" on June 5th without further details. I was at home on June 5th with witnesses to prove it, all day. They wouldn't tell me theft from whom, or where. But the "city" is suing me. or "Peoples of x city/county vs me". I am so confused and am completely broke, nobody will lend me money for a plane ticket and I don't know what to do. I called a lawyer who wants me to pay 1000$ to tell me what the charges are about and to get the trial moved back till later in the year until I have more money to come home, but that is bull crap. If I had 1000$ to pay the lawyer, I would just fly home for court.  I am literally living off of food stamps and a friends couch, waiting for call backs from jobs in another state. What should I do? I don't even know who is suing me for "theft" or why and the court house refuses to tell me. I have never been in trouble before, so I don't know what to do.

Answer:
 You're not being sued.  It's a criminal charge.

June 5th might also be the date the charges were issued and not the date of the offense.

You have three total choices.

1.) Go appear in court.

2.) Hire an attorney to appear on your behalf.

3.) Ignore it.

Number three is a **terrible** idea.  Either of the other two are okay options, legally speaking.Answer #2: Do you have any idea what it could *possibly* pertain to?  Have an argument with anyone there?  A bad work experience?  It's weird that you have **no clue whatsoever** and can't even guess.


Title: [Illinois] Considering reporting a guy I've been seeing for statutory rape, not sure if it would be spiteful.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Yes, it would be spiteful.  But spite is irrelevant to whether you should or should not report a statutory rape (or any other crime, for that matter).

However, what is relevant here is [Illinois' Romeo and Juliet exception to Statutory Rape](http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/illinois-statutory-rape-laws.htm).  Under this exception, he would have a defense to statutory rape.  Whether his actions would qualify as another sexual crime, I don't know.

So yes, it would be spiteful and "a dick move."  If someone has committed a crime, then report that.  Don't just let it pass by until you've decided to play your trap card.

However, in this case his sexual relationship with you is not illegal.


Title: My mom's botched? Reconstruction after a double mastectomy

Question:
Was advised to cross post this here.
Hey guys, I wanted to get your take and advice on this situation. On Thursday my mom had reconstruction after her double mastectomy. She spoke to the Dr before the surgery and instructed that she wanted to go a bit bigger than the 800cc's that her spacers were blown up to.
She has had a tough time dealing with first the cancer, then the lumpectomy that wasn't successful. She was finally looking forward to having the boobs she's always wanted. If she had to go through all of that then at least something good was going to come from it.
She was finally able to take her bandages off last night and see herself and she was devastated to find that the Dr put in smaller implants than what they had agreed to. She said she's smaller now than what she went in with originally. We are talking more than  a 2 cup size difference.
My dad got upset with her for getting upset. She should be greatful that she was cancer free and to stop complaining.
I'm trying to make her feel better and checking if anyone out there knows more about this than I do.
Shouldn't she have the right to be upset? Her doctor changed the agreement of the surgery without her concent. Shouldn't she have been made aware of the size he was planning before hand? Does she have some options as to getting this fixed? Is there something else that can be done to make her happy without having to do a replacement? What's the best way to approach the Dr/facility?
Thanks for your feedback and advice.
Edit: we are in CA

Answer:
 Talk to the doc.

But 800cc is the largest size commercially available for reconstruction, so I have some doubts that the doctor would agree to using a larger size.Answer #2: It's completely understandable for her to be upset, however the doctor may have had legitimate reasons to choose the size he did. I would start by simply asking to meet for questions and just ask why/what happened.


Title: [NJ] My girlfriend and her mother are charged with a felony (2nd Degree Burglary) after locating father's mistress' house and having a physical fight

Question:
A few months ago, my girlfriend and her mother was suspicious of the father of being shady for a few months when they saw phone records of him calling an unknown number multiple times. They decided to track his car and managed to locate the mistress's house.

Her mother decided to take action and planned to confront him at the house with my girlfriend. When they knocked on the door, they were greeted by the mistress. When they realized who greeted them was, the mom put her foot in between the door and let themselves in.

They found him getting comfortable and they both became furious. They ended up having a physical fight with everyone getting involved. After a while, my girlfriend stormed off and broke a bunch of furniture and the glass door on the front out of anger.

They were later arrested by the cops and are now both being charged of assault and 2nd Degree Burglary (which is what we're mainly concerned of) and Conspiracy. From what I understand, 2nd Degree Burglary is breaking and entering with criminal intent and is very serious. They were bailed out by friends, lawyered up, and awaiting a court date.

To help clear things up, the mother and daughter had no intention of actually committing a crime, they just wanted to meet them but things got too heated. The father, due to their living situation, no longer wants to press charges, but this is being held in a grand jury so I don't know if that helps.

Just posting for general support, advice and wondering how much trouble they're going to get into considering the situation.

Answer:
 > The father, due to their living situation, no longer wants to press charges

He doesn't get to press charges (or not press charges). That's up to the district attorney.

They each need to be represented by counsel, which from your post you state they have. As to how much trouble they'll get into, no one can say for sure. Their attorneys will know far better than anyone here. Edit: If they are found guilty, 2nd degree burglary alone can carry 5-10 years in prison.Answer #2: >the mother and daughter had no intention of actually committing a crime

Well sure they did.  They may not have gone there intending to commit a crime.  But when they actually committed the crime they intended their actions.

They're probably going to get in quite a bit of trouble.  Is your girlfriend over 18?

They may both serve some time.  At the least, hefty fines and probation.  I might consider looking into a new girlfriend.  That hotheadedness is unhealthy.Answer #3: IANAL, but the probability of them serving time is very high, even with an attorney.


Title: Doctor is amazing; nurse is from hell

Question:
Edit: Thank you so much to everyone who helped. I will definately tell my doctor about her actions, and if it doesn't change, I will be reporting her to the department of health. I really appreciate the people who fully read my post and took the time to give me honest and informative answers rather than attack my semantics. Thanks again!

So I recently found a new doctor on my insurance, who happens to be the only doctor in the area who specializes in transgender hormone therapy. We picked this doctor because I'd rather stay local than drive two hours to the next closest choice. As a general note, I'm in California, and sadly the majority of trans specialists are in Los Angeles... which I am not.

At first this seemed great. He was probably the sweetest, nicest guy on the planet. Also with a tinge of therapist in there. Besides the reason I went to see him, he also happened to talk to me about my anxiety and prescribe me some anxiety medication as well. Overall, I love this guy.

But the nurse is from hell. I didnt see any issues with her at first. But when I first tried to refill my anxiety meds, the pharmacy told me they needed to call the doctor and ask, since he didn't prescribe me any refills. That made sense, I get it. I waited a few days, and called the pharmacy again. The pharmacy said they haven't heard back yet. So I called the doctor myself to see what the hold up was. The nurse answered, and she straight up told me she was denying my request for a refill because I need to come in to see them beforehand. Which... would have been nice for her to let me know. I had another appointment coming up in a week so it wasn't a huge deal. But it was pretty annoying to have her straight up, very bluntly tell me "No, I denied it because you need to see the doctor right away." Um okay.

It gets worse. Next time I saw the doctor, he apologized about that. He said I shouldn't have to go through that, and he would put 4 refills on my anxiety meds. He then said to come see them in a few months to tell him how its going. Alright cool, works out.

Except, my mom usually picks up my meds for me (I don't have a car and the pharmacy is next door to her work anyway). She accidentally went in a day early to refill them. They refilled my meds with no problem. But on the anxiety meds, the label was printed with giant capital letters that i had no refills and needed to see a doctor to get more. I thought that was super strange, but maybe a misprint? I don't know, I was confused but went ahead with my day.

One month passes. Haven't seen the doctor since then because of work, but plan to see him next week. Today is the day to refill again. I call the pharmacy, and they tell me I have no refills and they'd have to call my doctor. I tell them no, I had 4 refills, which means I have two left. The pharmacy says they have no record of that, just that capital letter printed note from "my doctor" stating no refills. I tell them what happened last time, and how specifically my doctor gave me so many refills to avoid this issue. They apologize and say they can't do much, so I kinda sigh and hang up. They then call me back a few minutes later, telling me they looked through my file and saw that yes, before that last refill, my prescription DOES say I have 4 refills. Just that last time, they were told that I don't get refills, so presumably, they changed my prescription. So they changed it back for me and I got my meds.

Then, later, I get a call from that nurse. First of all, she called me by my birth name (a HUGE no no at trans doctors; my name on file is my preferred name, they only ever put my birth name where its legally required, and with notes to not call me that). Upon hearing my birth name, I asked "Who is calling?" At that point she said she was the nurse from my doctor's office. I said yes, thats me, but she's supposed to use my preferred name. She didnt respond to that, and instead said "So you haven't been paying the bills we sent you. Do we need to take you to a collections agency or are you actually going to start paying?" Imagine that being snapped at me in the bitchiest tone imaginable. I was shocked to say the least. Not to mention, I have insurance. We pay our copay every visit. The only bill we ever got was from "missing" my last appointment, even though we rescheduled, so we were going to talk to the doctor about that next visit and be like "hey, we rescheduled, why are we being billed for a missed appointment?" Even so, it was only $20, and the nurse said I owed $200. Which is either her reading it wrong, or our insurance is mucking up.

But either way, I told her my mom's the one who pays those because its her insurance, not mine. And that she had no right to speak to me that way, I am shocked she would speak to a patient that way. She said she was "sorry" that i felt that way. I said "No, you should be sorry for speaking to me like that, not sorry that I feel like you're rude. You ARE being rude." To which she said "have a nice day" and immediately hung up.

I have no doubts in my mind that this is the same lady who cancelled my prescription. What should my next course of action be? Is her cancelling my prescription against the doctor's orders illegal? And what should I do about these phony bills she says I have? I already asked my mom, and the only bill we've gotten is that $20 one.

I'm so angry right now over how she spoke to me, but I'm not entirely sure there's much I can do.

(And as a note; yes i've tried talking to the LGBT center in LA to get my treatments. Not only are they 2 hours away, but they also treat trans people like garbage. I went there before this doctor, and i wound up speaking to the highest level manager and filing a formal complaint against them for how they treatwd me and my trans friends. I am NOT going back there)

Answer:
 >And that she had no right to speak to me that way

she can speak to you any way she wants

>What should my next course of action be? Is her cancelling my prescription against the doctor's orders illegal? And what should I do about these phony bills she says I have? I already asked my mom, and the only bill we've gotten is that $20 one.

Talk to the doctor and voice your concerns at the staff


Title: Can a Virginia town limit the use of a road as a detour? (requisite shitty paint diagram included)

Question:
Hi legaladvice! My town recently closed a fairly high traffic road to do some construction [as pictured here.](http://i.imgur.com/VM1MPRC.png) To avoid driving several miles around town as a detour, many residents have decided to cut through a nearby neighborhood. The town has since put up orange signs like [this](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ef/8b/fe/ef8bfe34ebe9e492296d0e42f228f05b.png) which say "Local traffic only, not a detour" and cops are hiding in the neighborhood stopping people and checking their license for an address in on the street. I'm not sure if they are actually ticketed or not.

This seems completely wrong to me. It's a public street for which I pay taxes. Why shouldn't I be able to drive down it as I see fit?

Answer:
 > It's a public street for which I pay taxes. Why shouldn't I be able to drive down it as I see fit?

"Public" does not mean "any member of the public gets to do what they want".  It means that the people, as a whole, decide what gets done with it.

Municipalities, generally speaking, have the authority to decide how their roads are used.  This can include traffic control.  Your recourse is to speak to your local government about changing this decision.

Alternatively, you can check the state or municipal code for a rule about enacting such changes.  I don't find one with a quick search, but one might exist.


Title: Update: Went to small claims court over eviction. Case was "Dismissed without prejudice."

Question:
[Original post here.](http://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/2tovdh/i_screwed_up_my_rent_check_now_my_landlord_is/)

Quick recap: I screwed up my rent check by misplacing a decimal, and didn't realize it until the following payday. My landlord sued to evict me for non-payment. I kept trying to pay, and the landlord refused to accept my payment, often dodging my calls completely.

I got lots of great advice in this thread, so thanks to everyone! It gave me a great deal of comfort during a pretty stressful episode, and made me much better prepared to deal with the situation.

I called the law firm directly and spoke with a clerk who was very sweet and very communicative. I explained the situation and she understood, having had difficulty communicating with this landlord as well.

Regarding the $645 check, the property manager finally called me, leaving a voicemail, and said that they didn't accept partial payment (without telling me exactly what my balance was) and that they required me to pay with "certified funds."

During the ten-day notification period, I left work early one day, drove to the office, and paid the total amount I owed with a cashier's check, as well as a delivering a second cashier's check for Februrary rent. I got receipts of everything, a statement of my account, and the secretary's business card. The secretary at the property management office accepted my payments.

I called the really sweet clerk at the law office (Teresa) and explained that I had just made payment. Some of the information I was told in this subreddit (and which the judge reiterated in court) was that they couldn't accept my money *and* evict me.

I stayed in touch with Teresa, calling her about every other day to ask if the landlord had contacted them about my payment, all the way up to the Friday before my court date. She explained that they had not, but that she would call the landlord directly. She explained that she couldn't tell me to not go to court, but that they intended to dismiss.

I went to court because, at this point, I wasn't going to leave anything to chance. I brought all my records in case I had to plead my case to the judge. While I was there, I met Teresa, who explained that she had finally been able to contact the landlord, and had confirmed that I had made the necessary payments, and that they would be dismissing. She very kindly offered me a copy of the dismissal documents, which I accepted.

Thanks again for all your help, /r/legaladvice. You're life-savers!

**TL;DR** Got sued for non-payment, landlord wanted to evict. I tried to pay, landlord made it very difficult. Because of help from this subreddit and the landlord's law firm, I was able to resolve the situation, pay my rent, and the case was dismissed.

EDIT: Apologies to location bot. This was in Indiana.

2nd EDIT: I did call my bank and cancel the first couple checks I sent them, just to ensure that there was no shenanigans there.

Answer:
 Seriously, providing an update to this sub is the freest karma you can make anywhere.Answer #2: Thanks for the update! I'm glad that everything worked out!Answer #3: Great news.

One FYI, "Without Prejudice" means they would not be barred from refiling the complaint. That's no cause for alarm though, its very common for cases to end that way.


Title: (MS) EX-gf came in to my house and in to my room without my permission to "grab her stuff" and stole my cat.

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
> Should I even worry about a lawyer?

Yes, because it sounds like you committed assault. Also, stop talking to the police.


Title: [NY] After a verbal altercation, a woman walked over and poured hot coffee on my dog. I pushed her away as she poured it, and she tripped and fell over. Am I liable for assault?

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 IANAL

[New York State Penal Law](http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article35.htm)

Down towards the bottom...

*S 35.25 Justification; use of physical force to prevent or terminate
             larceny or criminal mischief.
  A person may use physical force, other  than  deadly  physical  force,
upon  another  person  when  and to the extent that he or she reasonably
believes such to be necessary to prevent or terminate  what  he  or  she
reasonably believes to be the commission or attempted commission by such
other person of larceny or of criminal mischief with respect to property
other than premises.*

Based on my reading of this, legally you should be in the clear.  Pouring coffee would fall under criminal mischief since technically she's attacking you property (dogs are property).  She could still file a civil suit against you, however.  Answer #2: Is it proportionate response?

Now, beating a man into unconsciousness because you got pushed is unlawful. But pushing a man who pushed you is lawful.Answer #3: In order to be found guilty of assault in New York, the victim needs to suffer a physical injury. New York courts have defined physical injury as more than a petty slap, punch, or shove. Even if she suffered a cut or minor bruise, it may not be assault.

Factors to look at to determine if she suffered a physical injury include severity and duration of pain, whether the victim sought medical treatment, the nature of the attack itself, and whether the victim was prevented from doing her normal routine as a result.

Source: I'm a prosecutor.
Answer #4: Off topic but is your dog ok if not you may want to file a police report for animal cruelty or suit in small claims court


Title: [MA] Closed Bank Account, just got a letter from a "Collections Agency"?

Question:
Hey there /r/legaladvice!

On June 29th I had closed out my account with Rockland Trust because I was moving over to Ally Bank. I went into the branch and told them to close both my accounts, they handed me the sum of both accounts in cash, I signed a paper or two, and I walked out.

Last night I get a letter in the mail from American Profit Recovery that I owe Rockland Trust $364.18 for...something. Apparently it is a debt they are saying I owed.

Now this was most likely due to my own negligence, as I had been receiving overdraft notices and "Your account is negative" letters throughout July, but I just trashed them and disregarded them due to the account being closed. I also transferred all of my automatic payments over to Ally the day of the account closure. (My old insurance tried to take money out of the account, failed, and my insurance company called me and I paid through my new account. it should have been $240~, but with overdraft fees I can see $364.)

Do I actually owe them this money if I had closed the account? Not sure what I should do here. The American Profit Recovery letter said that I have 10 days to send them a letter saying that I dispute the debt or....something will happen. Not sure what.
Topic:
Credit Debt Bankruptcy

Answer:
 Find out exactly what the debt is for. If you owe it, pay it.

There is good reason not to leave closed accounts negative with a bank: banks let other banks know about delinquent account holders and this can make it harder, or impossible to join a new bank down the road.


Title: Father died last year, today my sibling served papers that we are being sued for his condo

Question:
My father died somewhat unexpectedly last April. He had multiple chronic health conditions, but from my understanding he had a sudden heart attack in his sleep.

&#x200B;

Today my sister was served papers informing that me and my 3 siblings are being sued for the balance of my father's mortgage on a condo he owned. Apparently he still had 80k left to pay off.

&#x200B;

None of us have spoken to him in over a decade, we've never signed papers of ownership. However, I am concerned because my sister did live with him for a period of 8 months around 2006 while she was in school. She did not contribute to bills, but likely had mail coming to his address. She was also the person who was served, so I'm wondering if someone is thinking she is the best shot at recouping money. They lived in IL, my sister now lives in a small town in OR when I have a brother who lives in IL, a few miles away from the property. It seems funny they would serve her.

&#x200B;

Also, he's been married to a woman for at least several years now. They had a house in Arizona along with the condo in the suit. My understanding is she still lives in the house they owned when he died. They were still married at the time of his death. When my father died, his sister and brother called all of us frantically telling us to get a lawyer to get my father's portion of the equity out of the house they owned. We found out that my father's family did not get along with her, which is no surprise because they are all obsessed with creating drama. We refused to be involved in any way as we did not want to be part it, none of us were interested in my father's potential money, but here we are anyway.

&#x200B;

The people listed on the suite are all 4 of us, and a fifth "unnamed person". We all agree this is likely my father's wife, but wonder why her name is not listed the way ours are.

&#x200B;

So, a few questions:

1. What is our financial liability is regarding my father's condo? Do the plaintiffs potentially have a case or are they trying to sue us out of desperation.
2. My sister did live with him for a few months over a decade ago (he's had the property since at least 2000). Since she lived with him for this period over the almost 20years he's owned the property is she potentially more hot water than the rest of us are?
3. Why was the 5th person on the lawsuit unnamed? Is there potentially a separate lawsuit for her?

&#x200B;

Thank you.

Answer: Take the papers to a lawyer, most likely they are naming you to sever any claim of ownership you inherited, otherwise if they foreclose and don't name you, you could force them to start a whole new foreclosure because they never foreclosed your interests in the property.


Title: [Oregon, Washington County] What counts as blackmail?

Question:
[deleted]
Topic:
Douche

Answer:
 Not legal advice: literally every word of your post makes me want to punch you. Answer #2: "Don't."

If you want to ruin his life, well, it's not illegal to be an asshole. What you're contemplating is _not_ [theft by extortion](http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/164.075) under Oregon law, but it may be [stalking](http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/163.732), which is a criminal act, if you repeatedly contact people known to the former director. If your plan is to cause as much damage as possible and burn all of your bridges, you'd be better off turning over what you know to this guy's wife, without threatening him first.

Personally, I think you should talk to an anger management counsellor, instead. You are not looking at the risks to your personal or professional life in anything like a reasonable way.


Title: I have a 4400$ charge on my Credit from a college apartment complex that wouldn't actually let me live in their apartments or use their services.

Question:
A few years back I was trying to move into a apartment behind my college with my friend.  Like 400$ a month, okayish deal for where we live.  Well I had to have a Guarantor sign with me in order to be able to live there.  Well they showed me the contract and told me to go ahead and sign because they had a special offer for cheaper rent at the time and gave me 3 days to get a guarantor to sign, otherwise it would be null and void, that's what they told me at least.  My dad couldn't sign, and my brother refused and those were my only options.  So I went back to tell them I couldn't find one.

When I got back and told them the news I asked if there was any way they would let me live there and they told me "No, you have to have a Guarantor".  They wouldn't give me a key or anything.  Well I asked them if I would get any final paperwork, and the girl told me to expect my bill on its due date.  When I asked what it was for she said for the price of the Apartment the full 400$/m.  I protested, told them I would not pay for a service that I could not have and left.  I later found out that they did rent what would have been my room to another student who was there at the time.

I just had to get a new Apartment that ran credit (I've been living in a old one with some dude who let me pay upfront) and when he ran my credit it showed the massive charge.  Luckily the new place let me live there after I showed him some green and explained what the charge was.  They have charged me a whole years worth of rent for a place I never stayed at nor was allowed to stay at.

What Can I do to get it removed, I am very poor after trying to get a decent car.  Is there anything I can do about this?

Washington County, TN is where it all happened.  Edit:Spelling

Edit2:  So I went there to speak with them in person today to try and get it removed.  After going back in forth with a rep of me telling them that I was being charged for something I never paid for and demanding a written statement saying that I was not allowed to live there, a manager came to speak to me.  I think me doing this in front of other customers who were thinking about signing up prompted this. The manager said they would reach out to the collection agency to have them remove the charge and emailed me a copy of the lease and was very helpful.  I'm waiting to hear back from the agency and will call back a week later to confirm.   As for now the issue seems to be solved.  Thank you all for your suggestions and I'll keep ya posted!
Topic:
Contracts

Answer:
 Yes. You should first contact the company that charged you make it clear (in writing!) that they never allowed you to move in and therefore they voided the lease. They cannot both not allow a move in and charge a year of rent. If they are uncooperative go to small claims. Answer #2: Credit karma is free, and they have added a direct dispute option that automates the dispute process.

I actually used it last week for some old debt that was dealt with 6 years ago that somehow found its way onto my credit report at the end of 2015.  I ticked a few boxes and submitted the form, and Transunion cleared it off my credit within two days.

Not saying it will work for you, but its an easy solution to try before you do a bunch of manual legwork.Answer #3: If they didn't let you take possession, they breached the lease.  The question now is how do you prove they wouldn't let you take possession? Answer #4: Are you in college?  Does your college have a legal aid for its students? They are usually really good with handling landlord/tenant issues.


Title: Single owner auto body shop has a shared wall with our business. He is killing us with neurotoxins.

Question:
We own a business in Denver Colorado. This has been an ongoing problem for two years. The property manager (family owned property, she's part of the family) is very passive and has generally been no help.

The guy that owns the auto body shop has been painting and restoring cars for fifty years. His skin is yellow and he cannot detect any sort of smell. He's hugely mentally unstable. He claims he's using the paint booth, he isn't, and will absolutely throw a screaming fit if we come over to tell him our business is filled with fumes.

We've had the fire department out there and a special unit affiliated with the fire department that specifically deals with this sort of thing. He stopped for awhile. Now it's getting warmer and he opens the front garage door. I'm sure thinks that he doesn't have to paint in the spray booth because the front door is open.

I came in today at 3 pm after being in meetings all morning and it was noxious. Is my only recourse to keep calling the fire department? I don't want to waste their time. I feel like the landlord should be held responsible in some way. I thought I'd post here before doing anything. It's been a long day. Walking in to that, again, I just couldn't even. It's hard enough and this guy is the continual straw breaking my back.

We just expanded our space by taking up 1500 additional feet of warehouse space. This space is also along our shared wall. We also extended our lease for four years. The landlord led us to believe (not in writing) that his lease was up and he was going to be moving. We just found out, that isn't the case. I was trying to just ride it out until he left. Since he's not going anywhere, I need to find a better solution. I have a very well documented paper trail of everything.

Currently it's just my partner and I that own and work at the business. Our timeline to hire employees is about three months from now. I feel like there's no way I can hire an outside employee with this going on.

Answer:
 Report this to [OSHA](https://www.osha.gov/workers/file_complaint.html).

Edit: More specifically [the Denver office](https://www.osha.gov/oshdir/co.html) can be reached by phone 1-(303)-844-5285Answer #2: The business can sue the painter for some sort of civil nuisance.  Or, the business can try to break the lease arguing that it has been constructively evicted by the health hazards that the landlord refuses to abate.  Alternatively, the business can try to void the lease due to fraudulent inducement based on the landlord's apparent representations that the nuisance tenant was leaving.Answer #3: Continue to file complaints with the fire marshal. Have you considered calling the CO Dept of Public Health and Environment or the Denver Dept of Environmental Health?


Title: (Florida) I warned a couple about going into a certain area at night, would I be liable if any harm came to them?

Question:
I live in an area that's still very much the Deep South. The towns lovely for the most part historical buildings, fishing, hunting, a camp ground, old oaks and Spanish moss everywhere. But it's also a bit old in its mindset.

A couple came into my shop this morning to grab some last minute supplies. They're fishing and bow hunting this week. He's black and she's white(very relevant).

Me: I know this sounds strange but I've have to tell you two something. Don't go north of the river at night, don't leave the camp ground or Main Street at night. When you're driving don't stop for anyone but the sheriff.

Lady: What why?

Me: As much as I hate to admit it this town has problems. North of the river is not the place you want to be at night if you're black or a mixed race couple.

Gentleman: We'll be fine. I grew up in the south, I've dealt with my fair share of loud mouthed racists.

Me: They'll do more than talk. Just please be careful. Go wherever you please during the day but don't go north of the river after sunset and stay on main street or in the campground.

They both just brushed me off. Everyone else I've told had heeded my warning but I'm worried they won't.

Am I liable in anyway if they make a bad decision?

Answer: Umm....no.Answer #2: No.


Title: [Ohio] Sister was hit by fathers girlfriend and father threatened to “beat the sh** out of her”

Question:
Location is Ohio

My sister text me tonight to let me know that my father’s girlfriend hit her because she had a “bad attitude.” Immediately after that, my sister was shocked and told my father “oh my god she just hit me.” His response was to verbally abuse her and threaten to “beat the sh*t” out of her. She called me distressed and I told her that she could stay with me tonight if she wanted.

Shortly after picking her up, my father called me to tell me among other things that I can just keep her and to never contact him again. My intention was to separate them for the night to avoid any further drama, but he and his girlfriend are very hotheaded and they just wanted to blow up on me.

My sisters home life has been far from ideal, but nothing so serious that I have felt that CPS would be able to do anything. She is welcome to stay with me and my family for as long as she wants, but I do have some legal concerns.

First of all, I am aware that she is not my child. She is 16, and came here completely of her own will. I don’t want them calling the police and claiming that I abducted her. What should I be concerned about in this regard?

My second question is in regards to my father’s girlfriend hitting her. When my girlfriend got her custody agreement with her ex, the mediator made it a point to say that I was not allowed to physically discipline my stepson since I am not his parent. Since my father is not married to his girlfriend, is there anything illegal that she did? There is no welt or physical evidence, but apparently this is not even close to the first time she has hit my sister.

I am just worried for my sisters safety. Up until tonight I was just trying to be as supportive as possible as I didn’t see a way to help her out of this situation, and she only had 2 more years before she would be able to move out. I just want to be as prepared as possible for what my legal stance is in this situation.

Answer:
 Contact the police and report the assault against your sister.Answer #2: He can't simply pawn his child off on you and wash his hands of her. Your father is still responsible for the financial support of your sister since she is a minor. You need a family lawyer and a court order if he is unwilling to give her the proper financial support. You can also discuss a formal custody arrangement to be in place for you to have the legal rights over her care and things like emergency healthcare decisions.Answer #3: Agree, but be prepared for blowback, esp if they are hotheaded. Also consider your state’s version of s domestic violence restraining order against both of them.Answer #4: Do your sister a favor and call the cops. Like now! You need to explain everything that happened please. don’t allow your sister to get hurt anymoreAnswer #5: I would call CPS to report the abandonment of a minor. Make the first move because...if your father is THAT hot headed, don't assume they will not lie about the situation (problematic teen runs away to older brother with untrue sob story) ESPECIALLY if they are informed that they are still financially responsible for her.

Additionally, CPS can help you navigate any legal issues if your father DOES agree to give you guardianship of your sister.

Prepare for questions that seem invasive. Prepare for possible home visits. Prepare for nastiness coming from your family.


Title: Company wants to move from paper to computer based contracts

Question:
The company is based in California specifically Los Angeles.

Basically, I work for a rental company that still uses paper contracts for their rental customers. I'm working on a program that would create an electronic contract instead that customers would still sign using a stylus + signature pad but I was just wondering if there are any significant considerations to keep in mind to ensure that those contracts are valid as well.

Any replies are appreciated

Answer: Your company should talk to their attorney, don't leave this to internet advice


Title: Bad idea?

Question: My friends and I want to start a podcast. It would be about stories of our past where drug use and criminal activities are prevalent. Would "confessing" to said crimes come back to bite us in the behind or is it safe to share such stories with the world?

Answer:
 Confessing to crimes is always a bad idea.

If any were serious enough for the authorities to care about your podcast could certainly be used against you.Answer #2: If you ever want to seek gainful employment in the future your podcasts could make you unemployable. Any thing you say about committing a crime can be used against you in a court of law.


Title: Fake ID confiscated in WA at dispensary

Question: Ok so this is probably the stupidest thing I have every done.  I've been 21 for 5 months,  but still had my fake ID and my real liscence just expired,  So I decided to use my fake at a dispensary.  I got caught, and it was confiscated,  and they told me I will receive a ban from the liquor board and that if I enter the dispensary again I would go to jail.  They seemed to be being lenient because I showed them I was 21,  but I am concerned they will give it to the police.  What should I do?

Answer:
 If the police ask questions, retain an attorney.

Honestly, given the tremendous scrutiny on marijuana right now, every dispensary is keeping its nose completely clean. You can expect them to go precisely by the book.


Title: Are we still legally obliged to pay to the New-Owned Electric Company

Question: The old owner of the electric company were on a legal battle(takeover stuff) between the new owner of the electric company but while they were on a legal battle, we were told to not pay/hold the payment for the time being but now that the new ownership won, they are now trying to collect that money when we were told to hold the payment. My question is, are we still obliged to pay the new ownership of that electric company?

Answer:
 Did you get electricity from that company during that time period?

If you did, you're obligated to pay for it.


Title: [Europe] Is it legal to take a photo of me in the cinema with the movie title scene?

Question: [deleted]

Answer: Sorry, American here, not an European.  In the US, you would not be breaking any laws, as what you've described is clearly a fair use.  However, the movie theater could kick you out, as many have a "no filming or even photos" policy.


Title: Farmer dies, leaves no will, who gets the farm.

Question: My girlfriend's father(at least the man who raised her) just passed away.  She has two brothers, one older and one younger.  She is already pretty sure she is out of any say whatsoever since she is not genetically related this man that raised her.  It's unfortunate because one of her brothers just got out of prison  after six years and doesn't seem to have changed a bit, the other isn't any different except he hasn't been to prison.  The father was ignorant enough not to make any sort of will.  He divorced quite some time back.  Am I correct in assuming the oldest son will get the farm, and how is this made official?  This is in Virginia.

Answer:
 From  [Virginia Code § 64.2-200](http://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title64.2/chapter2/section64.2-200/):

>A. The real estate of any decedent not effectively disposed of by will descends and passes by intestate succession in the following course:
>
>(2) If there is no surviving spouse, then the estate descends and passes to the decedent's children and their descendants.

The farm would go to each of the farmer's children in equal shares, making them co-tenants.

Was your girlfriend adopted by this farmer?


Title: [Ontario] My Shut In Neighbour Needs Help

Question:
I am not sure if this is the right place to ask this so please let me know if there is a better subreddit.

&#x200B;

My downstairs neighbour at my apartment complex is a shut in who can't clean, cook, or do anything for himself. His apartment smells terrible and it is affecting my quality of life at home. Is there a help line I can contact or someone I can notify to try and get him some government or charity assistance without being an asshole?

I just want him to get the help he needs because he won't do it for himself. I think he wants to be independent, but he isn't capable of doing basic things that you need to do to live.

&#x200B;

Thanks!

Answer:
 Is he mentally competent and physically sound?

If he's disabled, he can seek assistance through ODSP. If he's unable to manage his affairs because of psychological problems or mental disabilities, you or he can reach out to DSO's [adult protective services](https://www.dsontario.ca/).

If he's of sound mind and body, then this is up to him to fix. You can offer to help, but if he's unwilling to consider your needs your only meaningful recourse is to complain to the landlord about the smell on a regular basis, and wait for him to be evicted in six to twelve months, or to move.


Title: Just got served but it seemed a bit sketchy

Question:
So while in college, like many naive students, I picked up a credit card and my girlfriend and I used it far more than we should have. Depression and anxiety hit and I stopped making payments around the $5000 mark. Very common story, I know.
After getting debt collection notices in the mail once a month for the past few months, I just got served a summons which has the "Date Filed: 6/15/2017"...today is November 2nd, over 5 months later.

It also was handed to my fiancee as two papers stapled together...no envelope, or anything that resembles an official document other than it had accurate information about the debt I owe, to a well known debt collection agency (Rubin and Rothman)
I'm worried that a judgement has already passed, as obviously I didn't respond within 20 days of the date that the summons was filed....but I wasn't given the summons till just today...so when does that take place? Also, having never been "served" before, is this typical. On TV you always see it being served in that manila envelope, and this just looks sketchy.

Is anything amiss or is this pretty standard?

Location: Rochester, NY

Answer: The file date is not the same as the date served. Nothing seems sketchy about it. Some process servers and attorneys don't want to waste money by giving away envelopes.


Title: (AR) Can I audio record a social worker when she comes into my house to interview me?

Question:
Several months ago, a social worker came by and interviewed my family. I got a copy of her report, and some of the things she says on there are flat out lies and exaggeration. (I'm giving an example: She drug tested me and I failed for opiates, I have a kidney disease and have a prescription for a couple of pain medicines. I showed her the bottles, yet she wrote in the report that I "failed my drug test but could not provide proof that I was prescribed these medications". I know that I can easily disprove this with a printout of my pharmacy account and a statement from my doctor, but my point is that this woman lied about something that I can easily disprove, yet she lied anyway. I want to avoid this in the future)

Can I record future interactions with this woman, or a follow up worker? She said she would be back twice more for interviews and drug tests, and I would like to record the interaction between us so that there is no room for her to exaggerate or lie again. Would it be legal for me to record her during my interview, at my home? Would I have to inform her she is being recorded?

Edit: The interview happened in August. I received documentation in the mail that she said the accusations against me were true. The accusations were that I was abusing my medications. Which, again, can be easily disproved when reviewing my pharmacy records. My state has that database where it automatically tells you if I am 'doctor shopping'. Also, my pharmacy account will show that I don't get my medicine early or anything like that. I'm not too worried about that part of it because I can very easily disprove what was said. I am freaking out about the fact that this woman marked this claim as TRUE because of *her* findings, which was based off the fact that I failed a surprise drug test.
Anyways, I filed an appeal as soon as I got the documentation. I also requested the reported that day too. This was in October and I just now got a copy of her report. I was horrified that someone in her position could lie and find an accusation true when I have so much proof that it isn't true. I have a hearing for my appeal in early February, but I have no idea what they will ask me.

Answer: You are in a one party consent states. Record away. As long as one party to the conversation (you) knows there is a recording being made you are fine. So your cannot record a private conversation between the social workrr and your spouse or kid without one of them knowing.


Title: Former employer receiving and reading my personal emails from my gmail account - without my permission!

Question: I resigned my position three weeks ago and last Wednesday I found out my former employer hacked my gmail account and is receiving a copy my personal emails. They must have created a code, or filter that I cannot find or see in my account. The person receiving the emails at my former employer called one of the recipients of my emails and told them, "I just wanted to let you know that I am receiving and reading all of x persons emails". I'm the x person that they have violated by doing this act. I've gone to the local authorities, tried to speak with a white collar detective who refused to talk to me and I filed a complaint with the cyber unit of the FBI. I feel like I'm in a black hole because neither of these government entities will take me seriously and won't provide any assistance to help me resolve this issue. I've talked to a local attorney who provided some guidance, but I'm no further getting this resolved than I was last week. What rights do I actually have as a private citizen in the USA? What can I do to protect myself and my privacy? South Carolina

Answer:
 On the mitigation front:

* Change your password. (Change every site where you used that password.)
* Enable Two-factor Auth on your account.
* [Go through the apps on your account and revoke them](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3466521?hl=en). This step often gets forgotten but app access persists even if you change your password. You'll likely find the culprit in here somewhere.
* Remove any [forwarding rules](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/10957?hl=en) in your GMail account.

On the legal front: get a lawyer to send your former employer a strongly-worded letter demanding that they immediately cease, and that they destroy any copies of your personal email they may have obtained. A letter from your lawyer has no extra legal force, but if it's coming from your lawyer they may take it seriously anyways.


Title: Saving parkings in the street is it legal?

Question:
Almost my entire neighborhood saves spots for others by having those cones that constructors use and also by place their trash bins in the street so nobody can park is that legal? Who can i call to complain?

Edit: forgot to add location its in california

Answer: Parking laws vary wildly based on city, county, state, and country. You should call your local parking enforcement department and ask. Keep in mind, even if saving a spot isn't legally enforceable, you run the risk of somebody retaliating against you or your car if you take the spot they've marked.


Title: I want to adopt my daughter, but she has a sperm donor.

Question: The situation is really odd. My wife and I got together when my daughter \(we will call her Belle\) was 2 months shy of her first birthday. Belle's "father" we will call him "Doug Bert, or DB for short" left when she was 2 months old. She is almost 9 now. He is bipolar schizophrenic and has been in and out of jail and the mental wards. DB is incapable of living on his own so he lives with his parents. He has been legally trespassed from our property following a few incidences which ultimately led to him getting locked back up in the ward, a few of which were pretty scary. DB has her 2 hours every other week with his parents supervision, but yet after a half hour he goes to his room and Princess Belle spends the time with her grandparents. Princess Belle Wishes to take my last name \(my wife and I have 3 other children and Princess Belle feels left out\). Princess Belle has expressed her wishes for me to adopt her.....I don't think that I can do that without DB signing away his parental rights.....\(no care about child support, hes mentally disabled so we get 90 a month\) When she talks about her dad she is talking about me. She IS my daughter. I would still allow her to visit her grandparents and DB....When he is in the right state of mind. Some times Princess Belle is not allowed to go over there because DB is not in his right state of mind......Is there anything that I can do to make my daughter my daughter??????.....INDIANA

Answer:
 It is really unhelpful, on a legal advice sub, to say that your daughter has a "sperm donor" when she does not.  A sperm donor is someone who donates to a sperm bank.   She has a father, not a "father," who has legal rights that do not include bunny quotes.

You need to consult a family law attorney and see if involuntary termination of rights is possible given the circumstances.Answer #2: It sounds like Dad is involved and seeing her when he can.  Unless he will willingly sign, I dont see that you have a case for taking his child away from him.


Title: [OR] Suspicious man and child.

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 Given these circumstances, yes, call the police. You're making a good faith report.Answer #2: If you believe something illegal is taking place call the police. If you feel threatened you can proceed from there.

Answer #3: This sounds like a case of possible child trafficking. If they keep such a regular schedule, CPS would be a great place to report this. Please, please report this. You may be saving a child's life.


Title: Neighbor's loose dog has bitten mother twice (Ohio)

Question:
Location: Ohio, USA

My mom has been bit by the same dog twice in the past month. Both times my mom was walking in the neighborhood on the street when the dog ran out from behind a house no fence) and bit her.

The first time it lunged at her and bit her forearm a couple times, leaving a bruise through a heavy winter coat. The dog then ran off. She had never seen this dog before and had no idea where it came from. Police were called, they were able to locate the dog about 10 homes down the street inside the house. The owner claimed to have no idea of the incident, says she lets the dogs out to go to the bathroom but doesn't take her eyes off of them. She must've gone in the house this one time and it's a sweet dog. The police give my mom the option that the owner either gets a citation adn has to appear in court or a warning. Mom opted with the warning becuase she wanted to just forget about it.

The second time (this week) the dog attacked from behind. Same thing, it just ran out from the yard as my mom was crossing the street to avoid the house and attacked her from behind. This time the dog drew blood through her jeans and ripped her coat. The dog's owner came around the house and the dog ran back to her. Police came again, and brought a photographer to document the damage. This time the police filed the citation and said animal control would be contacted. The dog's owner told the officer that visited her she didn't see any contact made between the dog and my mom, when she came around the house she saw my mom standing by the mailbox and not on the street, the dog was nice and must just dislike my mom.

The officer advised that the owner would have a court appearance and the dog would be labeled as "viscous." If the owner protests the viscous label my mom could be called to testify.

The officer said animal control would be called and the dog would be held for 21 days, beyond this he wasn't sure as it would be out of their jurisdiction.

We found out through the grapevine that this family just moved into the home about 6 months ago. My concern is that this dog is going to be returned to it's owner in a few weeks and things will remain the same as the owner obviously learned nothing from the first attack. This could have been a much worse situation if it would have been a child walking rather than an adult.

Is there anything else further we should/can do?

Answer: As a stopgap measure, check and see if pepper sprays are okay in your area. I know there are some types that are specifically approved to be for dogs (a different formula/strength)?  and/or a whistle in case the dog goes after her again.


Title: Got into a trucking accident in Detroit, I live in Illinois, work in Indiana, and am having my pay held.

Question: Recently, I was involved in an accident in Detroit in an 18 wheeler due to being cut off. I was injured and am diagnosed with post concussion syndrome. I was then put on suspension status from the company until all the paperwork has been filled out and turned into corporate. My pay is being stopped also due to being on suspension status and Im about to have my car repoed due to being behind on payments. The funny thing is, I actually had a paycheck hit, from the first week, but then get retracted after the accident had happened. IS there anything I can do to get my paycheck back so I dont get my car taken back?

Answer: You are entitled to any pay from any work that you have already done. If your employer has suspended you due to an investigation, then it's perfectly legal for them to stop paying you. "Suspended without pay" is a perfectly legal and common procedure, given that they suspend your future pay, not your past pay.


Title: Court Summons Received in Oklahoma

Question:
So I got a court summons that states "You have been charged with CONTAINERS/CONDITION/LOCATION being a violation of an ordinance of the City (city here). You are to appear before the municipal court at (address here) on (date/time here). You will be required to post an appearance bond at that time."

There is NO code listed on what I violated, nor does it give me any more information then that. I am assuming it is because I forgot to take in my trashcans for two days since I was out of town. And technically you have to take them up the day of trash day at like 8pm. I've never had an issue with something that small or trivial when I lived back in Seattle.
Here are my questions:

1.) Aren't they required to at least give me a warning before issuing a court summons?

2.) Don't these summons have to be certified so they at least know I got them?? It was sent regular mail AND I got another court summons for someone who lives down the street. I put it in their mailbox, but if the mail can't be trusted to get this to me is it even valid? What would have happened IF I didn't get it for some reason since it didn't have to be signed for or issued to me personally. (There is a note at the bottom that says "Should you fail to appear at the above date and time a warrant will be issued for your arrest." How can they issue a warrant for someones arrest if they don't actually ensure said person received the letter??)

3.) What is an appearance bond? Are they seriously going to charge me for showing up after threatening to arrest me if I don't show up???

Thank you all in advance for any help. Should I look into getting an attorney for this? Honestly it all seems so very shady.
Topic:
Other Civil Matters

Answer:
 > Aren't they required to at least give me a warning before issuing a court summons?

No.  It's your responsibility to know the law.  If you break it, you break it.  You don't get one free shot.

> Don't these summons have to be certified so they at least know I got them??

No.  If you don't show up for your court date and they punish you further, you could argue that you never received it.  Of course, you can't now because you did.

> What is an appearance bond? Are they seriously going to charge me for showing up after threatening to arrest me if I don't show up???

An appearance bond is an amount of money you leave with the court to guarantee your future appearance in court.  If you continue to show up, you get the bond back eventually.  If you don't they keep it.


Title: Offer letter states 72K per hour when in reality it's the annual salary. Just curious, I'm not a jerk.

Question:
Location: North Carolina

Obviously it's a misprint by HR but I'm just curious how enforceable the offer presented on an offer letter for a job can be? It's not a contract right? Should I notify HR or can I just go on ignoring it like I have been? I really love my new job and am not a jerk who is after 72K an hour.

Answer: An offer letter isn't the same as an employment contract.  Even if it was, clerical errors do not bind parties to a typo.  Otherwise, there would be a lot of neutered "gods" walking around on leashes.


Title: Nurse/Doctor's Office May Have Lied About State Law-What Can Be Done? (USA/NJ)

Question:
My wife is pregnant for the first time. Baby was planned and, so far, healthy. Yay!

However, my wife and I met when we were 9 and 10, began dating at 16, and have been completely monogamous, and only had sex with each other, nobody else in our lives. We have also never done drugs of any kind, never engaged in any kinds of activity that could put you at risk of STDs or AIDS, and never been to a hospital since birth (no transfusions). Our lives have been pretty boring.

However, we just moved to NJ because of my job. One of the laws here, according to the tech at my wife's new OBGYN, was that the mother be screened for HIV/AIDS. My wife told her the background that I wrote above: That it would be medically impossible for either her or the child to have those diseases. The tech insisted that this was the law. So they did the tests, and billed us and our insurance.

[According to what I can find](ftp://www.njleg.state.nj.us/20062007/A4500/4218_S2.PDF) the HIV test is, in fact, optional. If that's accurate, the person who convinced my wife to submit to it lied.

We don't appreciate this sort of predatory behavior from our medical providers. The bill we received as a result was small (but they certainly took our insurance for a ride), but the fact that a medical professional seems to have misrepresented my wife's options-while she was half-naked in a gown, on the table, and helpless to fact-check, no less-is really disturbing.

If my understanding of the situation is correct, what recourse do we have? I'm not looking for financial compensation at all-the money is NBD, but practice like this could be scamming customers without insurance and insurance providers (and their customers) out of loads of money every year. Is there some sort of medical board I can contact that could censure the person who did this? Is there a government agency that makes sure medical professionals are not misrepresenting the law?

Thank you for your time!

Answer:
 It's probably best to contact your insurance company. Unless you had a co-pay, they would be the harmed party.

You could also discuss with your OBG/YN directly. You should be able to trust the doctor that you're relying on for the remainder of the term.Answer #2: > medically impossible for either her or the child to have those diseases

That's not what "medically impossible" means. It's "medically impossible" for me to have prostate cancer, because I am a woman and have no prostate. I'm certainly happy to believe that you & your wife have never had sexual contact with anyone but each other, but that's not the same thing as its having been "impossible."


Title: (CA) When my Grandfather died 25 years ago his heirs were told by my step-grandmother that his entire estate was gone, forfeited for unpaid taxes, but I just found out there was a Probate Case and she now owns his former properties.

Question:
California Probate

I’m in Ontario Canada.

My Grandfather died 25 years ago. At the time we were told and believed my step-grandmother who said that his entire estate was worthless, specifically that he hadn’t paid taxes for decades and his 4 apartment buildings in San Francisco were forfeited due to unpaid taxes.

Recently, while trying to make a family tree I found that his widow had acquired all his properties on his death. I was stunned, she had lied to us. The properties weren’t seized, the Deed Reconveyances are transferred from his name to my step-grandmother in the years following his death. My mom and siblings had fully accepted her explanation until now.

I just learned about Probate (a rich relative died) and I found a Probate Case under my grandfather’s name from when he died, but we never knew about it till now. A Probate Case should have included my step-grandmother, his only child and any direct heirs. But my family were never informed about my grandfather’s Probate Hearing.

**Questions**

1. What can his only child and grandchildren do about this now?
2. Do his descendants have a chance of recovering money or properties 25 years after his passing?
3. Are these type of Probate Cases taken on a contingency basis or …?
4. Should I order the Probate documents that seem to be related to his death from the San Mateo Court or would an attorney do this on my behalf? (I’ve found 15+ separate legal cases with his property deeds, businesses or interests.)
5. Are there attorneys who specialize in decades old Probate Cases?
6. Is there a time limit, Statute of Limitations, that now begins because of the new information I’ve found?  How long do I have to investigate and pursue this case before a lawyer is retained?
7. What documentation is an attorney going to expect me to have in order to accept this and pursue this case so that the direct heirs can receive any entitled part of the estate?
8. What can his only child and grandchildren do about this now?

Answer:
 You would need to start by getting all the documents filed in both Ontario and California and seeing if there was a will filed.  You would also see if there were lies told in any official documents.

From there you could see if you had any actionable case.  For instance, it might be that there were valid wills that left everything to stepgrandma.  Just because she lied to other family members doesn't necessarily mean anything.

If you've read the filed documents and you believe there was fraud, you'd need to contact probate lawyers in California and Ontario.Answer #2: Holy shit, 4 apartment buildings in San Francisco?? That's gotta be worth a fortune. Definitely get a lawyer to sort this out for you because just one building alone would be worth it. Owning any kind of property, heck, even a garage, is lucrative in San Francisco right now.Answer #3: I would love to point out, that apartment is easily worth over a million dollars today. I'd assume, if you gained "custody" of it you'd be selling it. All this would easily cover your legal expenses if you're right about this.