Title: [TN] I'm being sued by an apartment complex from 5 years ago for non payment after the ceiling partially collapsed and they refused to fix it. I have pictures of the deywall damage, roof structure damage, and water damage. Looking for some help with how to handle it.

Question:
The property management company in charge of the apartments i lived at in 2011 have summoned me to court for non payment of the remainder of my lease.  I broke my lease because a portion of the ceiling collapsed in the living room and had extinsive water damage to both the drywall ceiling and the roof structure.

 I informed maintenance and the office of the issue and that i would switch apartments if needed while they made repairs.  After a month of no repairs and no answers i told them i would not pay them rent if they refuse to fix the property and would move out, which i did 3 weeks later.

  I have photographs of the initial water leak, the falling ceiling, the hole in the drywall, the botched repairs from prior leaks,  the roof structure damage, and the extensive water damage in the structure.

Im 26 and have never been sued and have no idea of ill be able to do anything.  Everything was handeled in person with the maintenance crew or over the phone with the office so i dont have any written proof.  Are my pictures of the water damage and collapsed ceiling worth anything in court?

In short what is my best option and getting this taken care of.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer: How many months were left on your lease when you moved out?Answer #2: I'm interested to see the pictures of the damage to understand if the unit was uninhabitable.


Title: Business owner selling away to himself is this legal??

Question: Let's say a business owner has a partner and their arrangement is 50/50 and one of the partners (owner 1) believes they are contributing more then the other.  And said business is successful and has many clients under the business.  So rather than buy off the other partner owner 1 starts a new business entity where they are the only owner listed and send letters to their clients basically saying from now on we are this other company please pay us in this name.  Is this called selling away?  I can't think of what it would be called and surely this guy can't be the first person to think of this.  Is this legal?  How can owner 2 prevent themselves from getting cut out short of contacting their clients and telling them to change back their payments?  Edit: located in FL/ United States

Answer:
 In addition to fraud, it's clearly a violation of his fiduciary duty to the other partner. This is a business law issue though, so you should get a lawyer. Answer #2: > owner 1 starts a new business entity where they are the only owner listed and send letters to their clients basically saying from now on we are this other company please pay us in this name

That would be called fraudAnswer #3: Its a breach of the fiduciary duty of loyalty owed by partners to each other and the partnership.  Owner 2 can successfully sue Owner 1 for his/her half of the payments made to the new fake company.  Also, its fraud and may be illegal under state law.  Document everything and talk to a lawyer.Answer #4: There is definitely a substantial body of corporate law that has dealt with these similar situations in your jurisdiciton. My first question that arises is what was authorized under the Partnership Agreement? There are common law remedies to solve the situation you described (like other comments have suggested, a common-law action in fraud or any number of possible state corporate law causes of action) but if the Partner is explicitly allowed to do this in the Agreement it might be hard pressed for a court to do anything but allow it.

Hope this helps.Answer #5: 'from now on we are this other company please pay us in this name.'

Where is the 'we' and the 'us' in this new entity? It would be called 'fraud.'


Title: So there's a smoker wage gap

Question: In new Jersey smokers are a class of person so would there be legal ramifications i can take as a smoker?

Answer:
 What lol?Answer #2: I really dislike the term wage gap.  I prefer the term *earnings* gap.

Wage is pay for work, earnings is total amount paid.  There's a difference.

As an example:

Say there's two people, a man and a woman.  They both work for SalesCo as mid-level execs and have an annual salary of $120,000.  Both of them have the same wage, $10,000/mo.

Now say the woman gets pregnant.  SalesCo offers 4 weeks of paid maternity leave and the option for up to an additional 8 weeks of unpaid leave with job security.  The woman opts to take the full 12 weeks off.  For that year, she does not get paid for 2 months, and thus earns $100,000.  The man, who did not take 8 weeks off unpaid, earned $120,000.

They still have the same wage, $10,000/mo, but there is a $20,000 earnings gap between the man and the woman.

This is not discrimination.  This is choice.  The article said it better than I can:

>It’s one of the many, many factors that contributes to your employment **opportunities**.

Smokers, as a class, are everything from part time retail employees to fortune500 CEOs.  The article implies that smokers are ever so slightly skewed towards the part-time retail employee side of things when compared to non-smokers, thus their earnings are, on average, slightly lower.


Title: Insurance refusing to pay for inpatient admission for appendicitis? Can I appeal?

Question:
Hey all, I went to the hospital last week or so for appendicitis. Today I received a letter from my health insurance and I'm having trouble figuring out what this means:

* Type of treatment: inpatient services; no code available
* Diagnosis: K35.80  Unspecified acute appendicitis
* Date(s) determined not to be medically necessary: 12-02-2018 - 12-03-2018
* "The clinical reason for our determination is: Your doctor admitted you to the hospital on 12/02/18. You were admitted to have your appendix taken out. We looked at the medical information made available to us. We have determined that you did not require admission to the hospital for this surgery. The reason is you could have this procedure performed safely in an outpatient setting. Your hospital inpatient admission is not covered. The surgery is covered at an outpatient benefit level."

I was in the hospital for 3 days, 2 nights as my surgery was slated to be the morning after the first night, and I had to stay an extra night because the appendix ruptured during surgery. Can I appeal this claim or do I have to suck it up? If I do have to appeal, any tips for what I ought to do? This is my first surgery and first time dealing with all this stuff. Thanks!

Answer: Talk to the hospital, they should be the ones that appeal that for you. If your appendix burst, that changes the codes, and reasons for hospitalization. It sounds like they need to add codes and detail.


Title: Mother is very abusive, I am 14, how can I emancipate myself? [OR]

Question: I need help/advice, ever since my father's passing in 2012, my mother has become very irritable and agitated, regularly lashing out verbally on me, and previously physically before I had a growth spurt and oversized her, for seemingly no reason. She will then a couple hours/days after an incident be extremely amiable and asking me if there's anything I want done, during these amiable times she'll also be walking around with a very strange smile permanently fixed on her face like she's being forced to do so. I noticed these swings very intensely during Christmas where it was basically just me, her and her mother (my grandmother) who is largely senile due to her dementia, and am thinking that I need to free myself from this environment as I never feel safe around my mother. Is there any precedent for someone as young as 14 becoming emancipated when they have no other real viable family members to take them in?

Answer: Do you have an income?  A place to live?  Transportation?  A way to support yourself?


Title: Is this extortion?

Question: Hi I've been having issues with my roommate for the past 6 months, anyway she texted me saying if I have her $500 she would move out and if I didn't she would have her bf move in and "make things really ugly." He apparently has a criminal record (& possible warrants out for his arrest) and has acted violently towards me and my bf in the past. Is there anything I can do legally?

Answer:
 Talk to the police. She's threatening you.

Are you both on the lease? If so, then you are both liable for the rent, regardless of whether she's living there or not. If she moves out and stops paying, you will be able to sue her for her portion... but you will have to pay her portion to the LL in the meantime.

Things are about to get difficult for you. Lock your stuff up, keep text messages and voicemails, and make sure you have a copy of any agreements between the two of you.


Title: BK, NY - Landlord is nowhere to be found, the building is "governed by bankruptcy law?", and security deposit being withheld by new mgmt.

Question:
Hey Reddit!
No stranger here though I've created a new account in order to ask for some guidance. From the amount of great community advice I've seen here, I kindly ask for your thoughts and advice!

Currently, the resources intended to help us feel  very unclear and the little assistance we do receive is concerning so my roommate and I are hoping to better understand the legality and possible solutions in regards to a tenant/landlord situation in Brooklyn, NY.

We moved into a building in Brooklyn last August. At the time of our lease signing, we each paid first and last months rent as well as a security deposit.

Throughout the duration of our lease, we experienced neglect from the landlord with building and apartment concerns - bed bugs being the most frustrating but other pests, broken appliances, a lack of heat and hot water and horrible mold.

Searching for an explanation, we were made aware the building under foreclosure and being taken over just a month prior to our move out. We found out via posted signs and letters slid under the door acknowledging that the building had been taken over by new management, and they also requested signed copies of our leases. The new landlord came to the building a few days later to gain copies of lease agreements and informed the tenants that our previous landlord was refusing to give up copies of the leases of the tenants of our buildings with no records of our checks.

This was supposedly confirmed when we received a notice that we owed money for the last months rent (which we paid upfront at the time of move in) along with a new lease agreement that stated we had not paid our previous security deposit.  When we called to clarify that we had paid our last month’s rent when we first moved in, we were told to ignore the bill and that we would be receiving our security deposit back, even though the new lease stated that none was paid.  The new lease agreement had to be signed stating if we were or were not renewing. We declined to sign the new agreement as it stated we didn't pay last months rent as well as security deposit. We are starting to question the authenticity of this new management now..

Also, this whole time the previous landlord is nowhere to be found and is still the case.

After moving out, we contacted management about where they could send our security deposit.  They had us provide the new address and who to have it made out to and they would send it out as soon as possible.  Slightly overdue, we still have yet to receive the security deposit which I understand though something feels odd.

Every time my roommate or I tried to call the management company, no one would answer the phone. When we finally made contact, we were told that since so many people hadn’t paid rent in years, we needed to provide proof that we had paid rent. In hopes to solve this, we provided them with this proof and were told that the landlord would review and to follow up the next week to confirm the check was sent out.

When we did follow up again we were told that “it may take longer then expected as this building was governed by bankruptcy law so its quite complicated as we were not giving security monies for any tenants, we are searching legal council on how to proceed here. I would imagine it would be resolved after the holidays.”

I am unsure about this new response of governed by bankruptcy law - is this normal? They are seeking legal council? We were told it would be verified and sent just a few days earlier.

I wonder, does the new management have a legal responsibility to return our money to us especially now that we've provided proof which is primarily personal information and a missing  landlord with no proof of anything.

 How can we verify the authenticity of the new management in this situation?

Thank you so much for your time, I greatly appreciate it.

**UPDATE** After asking for clarification on the governed by bankruptcy law, as well as, for the managements boss email, this is the response I received:

"I did not say you were not getting it back but originally I thought it was a regular return of security, however I was informed that this building was bought through bankruptcy which governs things differently. As I said it will be dealt with and I am sure it will be all sorted out. The holidays are coming up now and the boss does not return until early October. Please shoot me an email around Oct 10, and I will have all information for you then."

My question now is, What holidays? Am I missing something? Boss is going away for a month during all this? More and more beginning to think this is a scam.

My father's legal insurance plan allows me to have 30 mins free for assistance. I am going to give this a shot.
Thank you all so much for your responses so far - so helpful!

Answer:
 You could go speak with a local attorney, but I agree with the new management that this is a complicated situation. In a bankruptcy, which is what sounds like happened to your initial landlord, there is a person called a trustee that decides how the bankrupt person's money is distributed to his or her creditors. My guess as to what is going on is that your initial landlord put your security deposit in his own account, and now the trustee is having a hard time determining which money is tenant money and which is the landlord's. This is complicated by the fact that the trustee has a duty to distribute the money to the creditors, so the trustee is probably reluctant to determine that a portion of the landlord's money is not available to the creditors because it is held for the tenants.

How much is the security deposit? You may have to file as a creditor of the initial landlord, even though you are technically not, because the security deposit is technically yours. This would probably require an attorney, and may not be worth it unless the security deposit is a lot.

Very interesting situation. Please keep us updated!Answer #2: To answer your non-legal question, I'm going to guess they're referencing the several Jewish high holidays that occur in September and early October. Many of those holidays have work restrictions for practicing Jews. Considering this is Brooklyn, I wouldn't be surprised if the owner is orthodox or Hasidic.

Source: lived in Brooklyn with Hasidic landlord for 5 years and have lots of Jewish friends and in-laws.


Title: Underage drinking ticket from 2009

Question:
My 25 YO Fiance got an underage drinking when she was 19 at a college party. It still comes up when she applies for jobs or apartments. (Which kind of blows my mind) Is this still going to be an issue when we're in our 60s, applying for a loan or something? If so, is there legal help that can get rid of it?

PS: I assumed this question would already have been asked, but I couldn't find it. Found the one about a guy getting a citation for a 17 year old drinking ticket, but nobody was talking about getting it off the record.

The ticket was issued in South Carolina.

Answer:
 She *did* pay the ticket, right?

Assuming so, then she may have plead guilty to a misdemeanor.  That will be on her criminal record forever unless you (or she) look into getting the charge expunged.  But I doubt that it's going to affect much in the way of decision making even if it does come up.  By itself, it would not affect or prevent her from getting a security clearance, becoming a police officer or lawyer, or passing pretty much any background check I am familiar with.


Title: When a customer makes a "joke" about a bill being fake...

Question:
Anyone that's worked retail for more than a minute knows what I'm talking about, when you check a $100 bill for watermark or UV and the customer finds it necessary to make some smart-ass comment about how they just printed it out that morning.

My question is, what exactly are the legal implications of that? In so many words, they just admitted to committing a felony. If the bill actually is fake, am I technically an accessory to forgery? Should I refuse to take the bill just in case?

Answer:
 Sure, refuse it if you know your boss will back you up on that.  In fact, that sounds like a good thing to clear with management.

For things like this though, I might use a reasonable person test.  If a reasonable person wouldn't believe them to be serious, then just consider them not serious.  That is your defense to any charge or accusation.  That you (1) get that comment X times per year and (2) simply thought they were joking.  This is assuming that you performed due diligence on the bill as well, and that a someone else in your shoes would have also accepted the bill as real since it passed the tests.


Title: Sex Trafficking

Question:
I need help reddit, recently I met a man on tinder and we ended up meeting. What attracted me to him was that he traveled. He's from a slovic country. He was so sweet to me, held and kissed my hand, bought everything for me. He even brought beer and wine to drink on the date. He owns his own shipping company and travels around the United states, his logo is on his truck. I ended up trying to find him on Facebook but couldn't. I also tried to look up his company but found nothing on it. He told me to add him on Instagram. He showed me a necklace that represented the country he was from but I know that country and it doesn't have that on their flag. He would drive long distances from me to see me, very late at night. He kept saying he wanted to buy me things and how he wanted to surprise me by getting me a business too. We've only met 3 times. So please help, its the man trying to sex traffic me? If so, what can I do? He told me he's going to the state my dad lives at if I want to go with him.

(I'm posting this a second time because I wasn't sure if it went through, please delete one if it did)
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer: If you think someone might be trying to sex traffic you, don’t go places with them. Or see them, or talk to them.


Title: Is an insurance settlement safe from auto lender? (CO)

Question:
We are in the state of Colorado. My (sort-of-ex-)girlfriend and I live together for the time being, but we plan to split up in the next few months as we haven't turned out to be compatible.

She was rear-ended in February.  It was the other driver's fault as he admitted. He had the minimum state liability coverage of $25,000 and our attorney sounds optimistic on getting the whole amount of it. Of course some of this will go to attorneys fees and there are at least a few thousand going to medical expenses.

She has post-concussion syndrome and has not been able to work since the accident. Possibly not directly relevant, but: after much hassle, we got a Med-9 medical disability form filled out indicating that she is disabled for at least the next 12 months. She is starting on Aid to the Needy and Disabled and hopefully will be reconsidered for SSI.

Here's the thing: she was upside down on her car loan (I didn't even realize that there was such a thing as gap insurance for car loans; she didn't have it). She still owes like $6K and will likely have to declare bankruptcy at some point. We are hoping that the proceeds from the insurance settlement will not be subject to lien or any interference from the auto lender.

Her attorney let us know that this is not really his area, however he looked something up quickly while on the phone with us and he thought that the insurance settlement proceeds would be exempt from any attempts from the lien holder to recover their debt.

**Is anyone here able to confirm this?** (subject to any appropriate disclaimers ofc)

It has been a marathon dealing with my girlfriend's symptoms plus the attorney and the medical and insurance systems.  We are so looking forward to the end of it and we are really hoping that we don't also have to get her bankruptcy filed before getting the insurance settlement. We are already in financial difficulties from her not being able to work for 9 months.

I would really appreciate any light that anyone can shed on this. Thank you.

Answer:
 Honestly, the following piece of advice should be in the sidebar:

If you already have an attorney, do not go to reddit for advice.  Ask your attorney.  Listen to your attorney.  If your attorney is not able to answer the question, contact a different attorney.  If bankruptcy is likely, talk to a bankruptcy attorney *immediately*.  I know it's expensive, but there's a lot of money at play here and you are *wayyy* beyond a situation where relying on random internet advice is in any way reasonable.


Title: Boyfriend's family stole his identity and now the accounts are in collections

Question:
Hello,

My boyfriend's brother's sister used his identity without consent  to open a Sprint and Comcast account. They weren't good on payments and it went to collections.

If he files a police report, what would happen to her. Will she go to jail? Or will she just be responsible for the debt?

She lives in Wisconsin and we live in Missouri.

Answer: If he files a police report he is accusing her of fraud and identity theft. Yes, she could absolutely go to jail if the police choose to pursue those charges


Title: My mother is worried about the CPA taking away my 14 year old sister because I smoke marijuana

Question:
I smoke weed on my front porch at night. My mom is convinced that one of my neighbours could see this, call child protection services, and her and I would both get charged and my sister would be taken away from her, because she heard a story from a friend about something similar happen.

Am I wrong, or is she just paranoid? I'm above 18 and I keep it away from my sister, it's not like I smoke in the house or around her and besides, I don't think one neighbour calling the cops and saying 'i saw someone smoking weed on their porch' would result in any action from law enforcement.

Answer:
 Don't smoke where people can see you. It's just a bad idea.

With that being said, no, pretty much no chance of that happening. You are over 18, your mother doesn't just get slapped with any charges you face. And while there is some semblance of logic to the idea if you do something illegal it effects your sisters home environment, people don't just going around removing kids from stable homes willy nilly. The idea is to help the child, and in very few cases does taking a child from a loving home and a family they've known all their life help. Especially when the only cause is "someone who isn't responsible for the child's care doing something that will be legal by next year."


Title: Can I refuse to serve someone because of their racism? (Colorado)

Question:
I work at a small liquor store in Boulder, Colorado. Part of my job is shooting the shit with customers and being talkative what not. It doesn't happened often but sometimes a customer will non-jokingly express to me their racist views or go on a racist rant about a group of people.

My question is, can I refuse to sell to someone based of these actions? Or can I at least say "(customer), our store does not tolerate racism and if you continue I will not serve you" ?

I tried to look up refusal of service laws in CO but I've never been good with legal docs and there are too many articles online with their own agenda. I'm the senior manager and am 100% positive the store owner would allow me to do this as long as it's legal.

Thank you in advance,

Frustrated Liquor Manager

Answer: I would make absolutely sure that your manager approves of it first but if you are not refusing them because of their race, gender, sexuality, or disability, then you are within your rights to refuse service. (At least that's how I understand Missouri's law, I'm not 100% sure about Colorado)


Title: About to start a new job, want to protect IP rights of my personal projects

Question:
NORTHERN VA - DC.

So I'm about to start a new job and in the employment agreement is the usual stuff about IP:

> You will promptly disclose all tangible or intangible material created, or conceived by you related to your employment duties, including without limitation all writings, inventions, improvements, discoveries, work product, or other intellectual property. You agree that all such material which is copyrightable is a work made for hire.

This is a web development job and I have a web development project I'm working on in my spare time. This project is a browser-based web game. The company I will be working for doesn't do gaming but they do-do web development in general - and lots of it. That said, the gaming aspect of my project isn't related to what the company does but couldn't the fact that it's still 'web development' qualify it as "related to your employment duties"? I sent an email to HR asking the following:

> In regards to the employment agreement and the "Copyright, Patents and Trade Secrets section,” I wanted to have some kind of written assurance that personal projects I create and work on in my own time don’t fall into the category of things the company could have an IP claim to. There’s only one personal project right now, an HTML5 game. I would like to have some kind of written agreement that I retain all rights to the project. Would this be done on a project by project basis? I know it might seem overly-catious but the project means a lot to me.

Her response:
> After speaking with our COO he stated that the key statement here is “created, or conceived by you **related to your employment duties**”.  Based on your email below, you are developing a game which would not be related to your employment activities. Does that suffice?

So what do I do here if I want to protect my IP for the game? Do I need to have a formal contract or is her response and the nature of the project (web gaming) vs the nature of the products this company deliveries (web but not web gaming) enough to assure I retain all rights?

Answer:
 Whatever you do, **keep that email**.

You're asking for legal advice, and in the legal world there are few 100% assurances; everything is subject to context and exceptions.  However you are off to a good start.

The next steps you take should be to make sure that there is no way your personal project can be thought of as "related to your employment duties."  This means never using your work equipment or facilities to develop your personal project, never using your work email/phone/address in relation to anything to do with your personal project, and never attempting to talk about/sell/pitch your personal project when you're representing your employer.  You really want to keep these two spheres separate, to make it as clear as possible that they're unrelated.


Title: [Canada] Can a town shame people in arrears for taxes?

Question: Hello, I'd like to start by saying this doesn't affect me personally, I'm just curious.  Every year my small town in Saskatchewan, Canada, publishes an ad in the local paper pointing out residents and businesses who are behind on their property taxes.  Every year this strikes me as wrong and none of my business.  Is this even legal?  We aren't talking about years behind but simply not paid up for the current year.  It feels like a form of public humiliation or shaming when no crime is involved.  What do you guys think?

Answer:
 "Appropriate" is more of a moral than legal question. But the answer is basically "yes".

So long as something is a matter of public record, there's no prohibition against publishing it. I can perform tax searches on every property in my town if I wanted to and see if they owe property taxes. It's public information. If I then chose to take out an ad and publish that information, I'd be well within my rights. Same goes for the municipality.


Title: How can I prepare for a false paternity claim? (California/Ontario)

Question:
I'm sorry if I'm not clear but I just found out and my head is spinning. Basically what happened is a girl that I met awhile ago is claiming that I'm the father of her newborn child. She gave birth just a couple hours ago in San Francisco and according to her sister she is claiming that I'm the father.

I can't be the father because one, I never had sex with her and two I'm gay and have been with my boyfriend for the last two years.

I barely even know this girl, the one and only time I met her she wouldn't accept that I was gay and kept trying to flirt with me. I thought the fact we were in a gay club and I was with my boyfriend would be a clue but she just wouldn't take no for an answer and I ended up having to block her on all social media since she just wouldn't let up sending me 'proof' that no one is actually gay. I thought that blocking her was the end of it but apparently it was just the start.

My worry is if I'll need to actually hire a lawyer and/or travel to the United States to defend myself. Could I best tested for paternity here? Would a test done in Toronto be accepted in a California court? What about the baby? The baby is real but clearly she isn't stable, she even named it MyName Jr. !!!!!

I have so many questions but I'm at work and I just need to know what I can start doing so I don't go crazy over all of this! I'm sorry if this doesn't make a lot of sense but I'm having a hard time focusing since this all came out.

Answer: You don't have to do anything now. Do not contact the woman or her sister. If you receive any legal documents, then you can deal with it. The odds that this will actually turn into a legal action are pretty small.


Title: Live-in girlfriend cheating- can i kick her out legally?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You need to give her 30 days notice, generally in writing. So send a certified letter to your address in her name with 30 day notice to vacate.

Your plan is an illegal eviction and will not work. Answer #2: Do not touch her stuff.  Serve her with the notice, then wait.   You can try to legally induce her to leave earlier, but you cannot force her, and you should not touch her things.Answer #3: Technically you're her landlord, so you have to follow the Pennsylvania rules on giving a tenant proper notice to quit.  If she's not out by the end of that time, you have to follow the Pennsylvania rules on evicting her.
Answer #4: Unlikley.

She probably has to be legally evicted.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/how-evictions-work-pennsylvania.htmlAnswer #5: To explain:

She established residency, which created a common law lease. In short she is a month-to-month tenant with a monthly rent of $0/month. It's a mess, but you can just tell her that she needs to be out in 30 days and there's nothing she can do to legally stay. If she tries to stay longer than the 30 days then you need to file with the courts and have a Sheriff come by to remove her.


Title: Got caught shoplifting today and am supposed to start medical school in July (PA)

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 Prolly should disclose the bipolar as well. If that is going to be an impediment to being a doctor better to know before you borrow a few hundred grand. Answer #2: >will my acceptance be rescinded? do i have to inform the school?

The medical school policies can answer your question. But in any event, you will likely have to inform them.


Title: Do I have grounds for a lawsuit? (I'll admit straight up that I did something stupid) Arizona

Question: I had a lifelong best friend, closer to me than a brother. He owns a huge piece of property where my wife and I lived in a small cabin for seven years. Along with our career jobs, we did projects on the ranch in return for the free rent. After seven years of living there, we thought that it was going so well that we were granted permission to build ourselves a nicer home.  We put a lot of resources into that. Then......after a year of living in that new house, we were evicted. He had his son move in there. Nothing had changed, there was no reason. He got rid of us by saying that rent would be $3000 a month. At the time, I consulted a lawyer who informed me that I was shit out of luck. I've since learned that this lawyer and former friend of mine are actually good friends. Should I consult another lawyer? Although there was never anything on paper, there was a verbal contract. And I have two witnesses: my wife and a neutral party- a local restaurant owner said he'd vouch for me that the former friend and I were telling  him about it one night. Plus, all of the receipts from my bank account proving that I spent so many tens of thousands of dollars building the house.

Answer: I think it’s worth pursuing, for sure. I’d call more lawyers. Answer #2: You don’t say what the agreement regarding the new house was.


Title: [HoustonTX] Police confiscated 2.5k when I was arrested on a drug charge. Had pay stubs on me.

Question:
Nov 2015 I was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, aprazolam/xanax 200-400g and LSD 2-4g.
The xanax was later dropped to pursue the LSD. I ended up doing a year combined in county jail and a probation mandated criminal rehab. I'm curious what my chances of getting my money back are, as I said I had all my pay stubs on me and still have them. They add up to more than the confiscated amount.

Texas

Thanks a lot folks.
Topic:
Searches and Seizures

Answer:
 That sounds like an excellent question for your lawyer.

Was there a forfeiture hearing for the money?


Title: [Alabama]Currently being sued by my mother and I want to make sure I'm not over thinking this

Question:
Hey!! Little backstory for perspective purposes.

When I was applying for college back in high school, I realized that I wasn't getting enough scholarship money to cover everything I needed so, I looked into loans. Even after what I could manage to get as a loan, I was still short. My mother agreed to do something called a Parent PLUS loan to help cover the remaining expenses(I think around 15k, can't quite remember) that only she signed for and I was able to attend college with it.

Fast forward about 5 years, It's time to pay back loans and I start paying mine back on a normal schedule. My mother calls and asks if it would be possible to help her with the loan payments since they were for me. At the time, I made well enough to help so I started transferring 100$ each month directly to her bank account to put toward her total. After a few years of that happening, she asked if i could put more down to speed up the process of paying it off, so I added another 100$, making it 200$. About a year later, I lose my job and go through a long process of getting myself back on my feet. I ask her if she doesn't mind me holding off until I catch back up. She proceeds to tell me that I'm responsible for the loan and if I don't pay, she's taking me to court. It's not that I didn't want to help, it's that I couldn't. I tried explaining it to her and the last words she said to me was "I don't care if you're living under a bridge, you're gonna pay me that 200$."

Easy to say at that point I quit paying. It felt like I'd gone from helping to being the only one paying.
So, fast forward to now. She stayed true to her word and is taking me to court for exactly 10k(odd since I never saw exactly how much was left to pay on it and that its an exact number like that) and the court date is a week away.

From what I've researched on the Parent PLUS loan, the parent is the only one responsible for the payments. I never signed anything saying that I would be a fall back if she didn't pay or anything like that. I've also gathered all the times i transferred money into her account and it comes out to around 6.3k. So the 10k makes no sense to me.

I even managed to locate some forms that she and my father made, in court, stating that when my sister went to live with my dad, my mother "shall be responsible for any and all expenses and support associated withe post minority education(college expenses) associated with the oldest of the parties children, ((redacted))"

So, simply put, don I have anything to be worried about? I feel like legally she doesn't have any pull and the only thing that could not go my way is if the judge thinks that morally, I should pay since it was my school and that she didn't have to do that for me.

Any advice or help would be appreciated :)

Answer:
 https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/05/20/learn-how-to-transfer-parent-plus-loans-to-a-child

>  And while students may feel a moral obligation to take on their parents' PLUS loans since the money funded the students' education, "don't confuse this with legal obligation," says Cohen, the student loan lawyer. Parents can't force their child to adopt responsibility for the loan. It's ultimately Mom and Dad's debt.

The Parent Plus loan is 100% on your mom. Now if you agreed to pay it back (via verbal or written contract) would be something different. The fact you started making good-faith payments to repay the loan may not help your case.

10k is not a small amount of money and would be worth talking to a lawyer about to see what they think.


Title: Rolling stop traffic ticket

Question: I got a traffic ticket for rolling the stop sign here in California, I already extended it and I have to pay on the January 19, two days from now. I have the options to pay it ($238), go to traffic school, or go to court date reservation for arraignment only, if I pick the court date can I talk to the judge try to fight it? And if I lose will I get a fee for fighting? And also can I still do traffic school if I lose?

Answer:
 >I have the options to pay it ($238), go to traffic school,

Your option is really to pay AND go to traffic school or not.  If you choose to pay you pay either way.  Going to traffic school doesn't excuse the fine; in fact, there's an additional fee for it.

>if I pick the court date can I talk to the judge try to fight it?

No, not on that day.  It's arraignment.  You plead guilty or not guilty.  You can plead guilty and beg for a reduction in the fine, but don't count on it.  You can also request a payment plan.

If you plead not guilty, you come back on a different date for trial.  Do not assume the officer will not appear.  They are required to.  If you go to trial, you'd really better have something to say.

>And if I lose will I get a fee for fighting?

No.

>And also can I still do traffic school if I lose?

It's at the judge's discretion.  If you show up for trial with no tenable defense, don't count on it.


Title: I'm afraid my brother will kill me [Alabama]

Question:
I currently live with my mother, father and adult brother. My brother is violent and has extreme anger issues. He has punched and kicked holes in walls/doors, broken my possessions and threatened my father and I. My mother will not make him move out and actively engages in the fights. A month ago it got to the point where he was trying to hit my father who was not fighting back. I'm still a minor so I can't leave nor can I call the police because it will just make everything worse.

 My mental health has become shit because of this making me feel suicidal. My question is, is there a way I can get away from my brother without being put into foster care? I do not have any relatives (grandparents passed away, and both my parents are the only child)

Answer:
 With parental permission you can join the military at 17, and they send you to basic training, then back home till you turn 18.  Depending how long it takes to enlist and complete training, by the time you got done you would likely be 18.

Kind of an extreme option, but if you seriously believe your life is in danger, might not be the worst one.  Also, being in contact with a military recruiter would give you someone you could call in an emergency if you needed help with your brother.


Title: [NC] Mom got fired from her job unfairly, any thing we can do?

Question: Mom(45, F) just got fired a few hours(depending of when you see this)/minutes again at a nursing home for a worker telling lies to her boss about the workers saying that my mom said she hated the workers even though she didn't she is really upset, and I'm(15,M) pissed off the 9th degree. Anything we can do?

Answer: She can file for unemployment and look for a new job.


Title: I settled a malpractice case against an emergency room doctor. Today I received a request of medical records from the California medical board to conduct an investigation. Should I be worried?

Question: I won't be able to get a hold of my lawyer to discuss this until Monday but it mentions legal actions may follow.  Did not specify if it is against me or the doctor. Is there a chance the settlement can be voided and I get sued? Normally I'd be able to wait and ask my lawyer but I'm stressing out too much about this. Research on the internet did not provide anything useful. Thank you in advance

Answer: The medical board is investigating the doctor, they want access to your records to determine if they need to discipline the doctor.  Go ahead and give them access, it has nothing to do with you.  The medical board getting involved means that the doctor is at risk of losing his license and that is a good result that your lawsuit can't provide.


Title: First DUI, CONFUSED HELP!!

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 You should get an attorney to mitigate the damage. If you truly did completely black out after only a few drinks then that is something you will want to talk to your doctor about because it could be an indication of a medical issue. It's also not completely impossible you were drugged. Do you know what if any toxicology tests they ran at the hospital? Answer #2: Hire a DUI attorney and go through the process. Do you have a specific question?Answer #3: Cop here, not sure what state you are in so take this for what it's worth.

In my state if there has been an accident we still have to read the DUI implied consent notice to the unconscious person and serve them with the paperwork. It seems odd, just how the statute is written.

Hope this helps with your timeline.


Title: Apartment gave key to appliance leasers, who damaged my washer and dryer thinking it was theirs, without me knowing until I came home to a mess. (Texas)

Question: So, I moved into an apartment complex two weeks ago, bought a washer and dryer that was installed Monday, to start off. Today my wife came home for lunch and saw the dryer wash pushed up against the wall, all the clothes thrown out onto the bed, and a litter box was spilled. She freaked thinking someone had broken in, called me and left so I left work early to check it out. Turns out the previous renters rented a W/D through the apartment, and the apartment had moved it into storage before we got here. They notified the appliance company they worked with that they needed to be picked up, but they're in a storage unit, not the apartment (have seen the work order thing and can confirm they did this). People working did not read the notice apparently, took my washer and dryer out of the apartment, causing cosmetic damage on the front and sides (one side really bad, which is why it was pushed against a wall) put it back when they realized they fucked up, without telling the complex they went in there (but the complex still provided them the keys, guy at the front desk wasn't aware of the situation), and said nothing to anybody. Talked to apartment assistant manager and he basically just said sorry a bunch and he'll try and get the appliance people to pay for the damages to my brand new W/D (cost $600 a piece). He's going to call me back when they call him back. Do I have any legal action against either the complex or rental company? Or both? Apartment for letting them in without any notification, and appliance company for the damages? Thanks. This is our first big purchase since we got married and it's so frustrating that it's already damaged.

Answer: IANAL. It looks to me like you would have a viable claim against the company that sent the people to move your appliances. Your claim against your apartment complex seems more tenuous to me and would depend on the specific circumstances.Answer #2: I would inform the apartment management and the company that you are seeking damages and how much and they have a one week to respond or you will take them to small claims court.   No apartment complex should ever allow someone, that’s not an employee or agent of the management, unsupervised into the apartment.  Be sure you contact non emergency police to file a report and also file a notice of damages to walls, floors or other areas with the apartment complex.  In writing and via email, and keep a printed copy for yourself.


Title: OK- Having daycare issues

Question:
Hey there. First time posting ever, and I wish it were a bit more lighthearted.

Down to business. My daughter's mother and I both work full time- which leaves us having to drop my daughter off at daycare during the week. Over the past month she has come home with urine and fecal stained underwear, and dried snot, and food stains all over her face. I have told them four or five times now that it isn't acceptable. So long story short- do I have any legal recourse that I can pursue to get them to pay attention? All of the other daycares around here have four and five month waiting lists that I am already on. Thank you for any help or suggestions

Answer: There's a reason the other places have a wait list and this place doesn't. You can report it to the [Oklahoma Department of Human Services](http://www.okdhs.org/pages/default.aspx). It doesn't sound like something that rises to the level where they would get involved, however.


Title: Can my cousin be arrested for vehicular manslaughter?

Question:
My cousin was in a wreck today... She survived with a totaled car and few bruises but unfortunately the driver of the other car died.

My cousin said she was looking down at her radio and ran a stop sign and collided in the middle of the intersection. However, the other driver was going way over the speed limit and not wearing his seat belt.

I hate to see her go to jail for a horrible tragedy like this. She feels awful about it and is one of the nicest people on earth, who just got her first full-time job. What do you think? Could she be arrested, and if-so, for how long?

This is in Alabama, btw.

Answer:
 > Could she be arrested, and if-so, for how long?

Could she? Well, yes. Will she? No one can tell you that.

Personally I don't think it'd be such a bad thing. She did something really stupid and took someone's life. This was 100% avoidable if not for her negligence.

Here's the relevant statute:

> ALA CODE § 32-5A-192 : Alabama Code - Section 32-5A-192: HOMICIDE BY VEHICLE OR VESSEL

> (a) Whoever shall unlawfully and unintentionally cause the death of another person while engaged in the violation of any state law or municipal ordinance applying to the operation or use of a vehicle, or vessel, as defined in Section 33-5-3, or to the regulation of traffic or boating, shall be guilty of homicide when the violation is the proximate cause of the death.

> (b) Any person convicted of homicide by vehicle or vessel shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than two thousand dollars ($2,000), or shall be imprisoned for a term not less than one year nor more than five years, or may be so fined and so imprisoned.

So she could be looking at fines of up to $2000 and/or up to 5 years in prison.


Title: Accidentally clicked on illegal link

Question: Just today, i was on a Pr0n website, and there was this link. It was to an openload player, so of course i just assumed it would be any other video, but alas, it was CP. I clicked on it unknowingly and am now terrified. Am i in trouble? Please understand that i did not do this on purpose. Also i did not start the video, just saw the thumbnail and was disgusted. U.S, Pennsylvania

Answer:
 *If I were you, I would remove your HD, and expose it to an electromagnet. Then smash it with a sledgehammer distributing the pieces in various places across a 20 mile radius. Then go home and wait for the black helicopters and M4-armed SWAT teams to break through your windows after tossing in a few flash-bang grenades.*

Actually, nothing is going to happen to you. You downloaded nothing. You uploaded nothing. Just don't go back to that site, and next time be more careful where you click.


Title: My boss / step-father has made it so switching places of work with my current skillset is nearly impossible. Advice?

Question:
Hey guys,

It's ya boy, Blurrel.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not well versed in law in any way, shape, or form, I'm here to just make sure what is happening, is legal and within the books. Also this is in British Columbia, Canada (Just so we know what laws we are working with.)

I've been working at my current place of employment since December 2017, I wont name the place but we specialize in tuning engine ECM's. Basically, we tune the computers on big rigs trucks for more HP, mileage, etc.

He hired me on because I was family and I've been relatively happy here ever since.

Lately I've been looking for a place of work that will be closer to my girlfriend and her one year old kid, she lives an hour and a half away from me so being able to only see her on weekends is kinda lame. I want to be there to help her and start life with her.

I was looking around at the job market there and it turns out, my girlfriend knows someone who works at a place that does what I do currently (This is rare, these businesses are VERY few and far between).
I talked to her friend and it sounded like somewhere that I might want to at least look into. I got sorta excited.

Now fast forward to today. I brought up the idea with my step dad / boss and he was quick to remind me that when I was hired, I signed a contract saying that I wouldn't work for another company that does the same business as us, within the next 10 years.

Now, obviously, I signed this, or else I wouldn't be posting here. To be honest, it was my step dad, I didn't even properly look through what I signed. But, there it is, my signature on it.

So LegalAdvice, I have a simple question for you. Is a clause like this in a contract even legal? He said if I went to work for them, I would have a half of a million dollar lawsuit up my ass. Obviously I'd like that avoid that if entirely possible! If I really can't use these skills anywhere else in the future, I'll probably just quit and switch fields, no sense in wasting my time here if the skills don't help me after I'm done.

Any advice from my fellow redditors? If I'm screwed then it is what it is but I just wanted to check the validity of this clause.

Answer: Noncompete agreements are legal as a whole, but they need to be reasonable, including limited in scope. It is highly unlikely that a 10 year prohibition on working in any other company in the same industry can be upheld. What exactly you do for a job is also relevant here; NCA tend to only apply to people who might be able to apply trade secrets or other protected information or are likely to pull clients from their previous business.


Title: Do police need a warrant to search the trunk of your car?

Question:
I was recently pulled over for expired plates. When the cop came up to my window and said he could smell weed and asked if I had any on me. I told him I didn’t have any weed in the car (Which was the truth) and he asked if he could search the car.

I told him, and I quote “do whatever you think you need to do”

He pulled me out and searched me, and put me in the back of his car.  I watched him and 2 other officers search the inside of my car, and then they popped the trunk and searched that too.

I was always under the impression they need s a warrant for that...but does him smelling weed and having “probable cause” give him the right to search the trunk? Or was my response of “do whatever you think you need to do” giving him consent to search the whole car including the trunk? I live in Michigan if that matters.

Topic:
Searches and Seizures

Answer:
 1. They need a warrant to search your vehicle, unless they have probable cause.
2. The smell of drugs is probable cause.
3. You gave the cop permission anyway when you said "Do whatever you think you need to do". That was consenting to a search at the discretion of the officer.

So basically, he was well within his legal rights to search your trunk, both due to probable cause and because *you literally gave him permission*.


Title: Being sued millions over car crash, insurance has been canceled?

Question:
The day before the crash we had been double billed by the insurance company. I called them up and let them know about the mix up. They promised it would be fixed within a few business days.

A pile-up happens. On top of our injuries we get out of network physician bills and another family involved sues for an inflated figure. I contact the insurance company about getting served. A meeting is arranged with one of their attorneys. The meeting was canceled and we get asked when we told them to cancel our policy. We also got lectured that having an auto policy with high limits is a necessary condition of having an umbrella policy and that any material misrepresentation is insurance fraud.

How do I find and select an lawyer to defend us against this suit? How do I find and select a lawyer to sue our insurer?

Answer:
 In addition to a lawyer, you likely need to involve your state department of insurance.  Based on your version of the facts, it sounds like you have a live case of bad faith on your hands.Answer #2: Your state bar association undoubtedly has a "lawyer locator" to help you find lawyers in your area.  There are lawyers specializing in insurance claims.  Sounds like you need one.Answer #3: It seems like there are some missing details here.  Insurance cancellations generally aren't effective immediately but involve a notice period.  If the insurance was canceled at your request, it seems that the insurance company would need to prove that.  Especially if the cancellation occurred during a period that was paid for, or within a few days of that.  And you mention not having a high-limits auto policy but having an umbrella policy?  How were the two policies issued against their rules?

I agree that it sounds like you need a lawyer, but it also feels like there are some more relevant details?


Title: [MN] City is taking part of our property but the previous owners got the money

Question:
We purchased a new home in November. We fell in love with the property when we toured it and made an offer above list price the same night due to multiple offers on the home. Some of the features we liked that are relevant to this post: it has a tall privacy fence along the front of the property, big mature trees, lovely bushes in front, and a turn-around in the driveway (it's on a really busy road that makes it impossible to back out of the driveway).

At the closing, we were informed that the city was taking part of the property to expand the road and add a sidewalk. We were told it hadn't been decided how much would be taken but we were shown three possible sizes. The document listing the lot dimensions had a clause that said something like "Except project B..." that we were told designated the part of the property the city was taking. We asked our realtor about compensation and he told us it would probably only be a few thousand dollars. We loved the property enough that we were okay with losing part of it because we assumed we would be compensated.

Fast forward to yesterday. We finally got in touch with the project manager to ask for details of the construction timeline and when we would be compensated. He informed us of a few things:

* The previous owners were compensated in September or October (so well before closing on the home). Since the documents we signed listed the lot as "except project B...", we never owned that part of the property and will not receive any compensation

* We will not have access to our driveway for months and will need to drive through our grass and off a curb

* They aren't sure if the cost to move our privacy fence was included in the sum the previous owners received

* We will be losing six trees, five of which are large oaks

* They are taking the largest chunk of land out of the three estimates. This will cut into our turnaround, making it pretty useless. The man we spoke to said they will repair our driveway, but I doubt they will move our turnaround

I understand that the documents we signed say we never owned this property, but could the previous owners really be allowed to sit through the closing and not say anything when we asked about compensation? That seems like they purposely misled us. Are we entitled to any type of compensation for the loss of privacy, the inconvenience of construction, and possibly the cost to move the fence?

EDIT: Just to clarify, I do not expect compensation for the land itself since our contract stated it was not included in the purchase and therefore we never owned it. My biggest concern is damage done to our property during construction that we may have to pay for out of pocket.

Answer:
 > We asked our realtor about compensation and he told us it would probably only be a few thousand dollars.

Did you ask "what will the compensation be?" and not "what compensation will *we* receive?" The way you're telling the story, I'm not sure anyone misled you but yourselves.Answer #2: Sorry, friend.

> We loved the property enough that we were okay with losing part of it because we assumed

> we assumed

It sounds like all the pieces were there in front of you and you looked at them through rose colored glasses of "OMG I love this house" instead of the hoary glasses of "what's the worst that can happen if I put down hundreds of thousands of dollars on this piece of dirt, with the complication that someone has presented me with plans that mean that some portion of this piece of dirt is being taken away from me?"

You *knew* you were losing some land. What you have now is buyer's remorse.

Sorry. You had all the pieces. Your signature went on the bottom line. You're hosed.

As for getting compensation from the previous owners, why should you? I don't see where you were misled. Your survey clearly said that you weren't getting all of it. The previous owners were probably selling due to diminished value and usefulness resulting from the city taking property. You knew that and your offer should have included that consideration. You're essentially saying, "Hey, that property that you didn't want anymore because the city is taking some of it? I'm mad that the city took some of it. I want some money back."


Title: Tenant issue in Texas. I wasn't notified of habitability problems, until trying to sell. What's my liability?

Question:
I own a house in Texas, I live in Oregon. I have an agreement with the tenant that she will make repairs instead of paying rent, otherwise her rent is $600/mo. I have received almost no rent for the past 2 years, and almost no documentation of her repairs. Until recently I have been unable to do much with the property because of disputes with my ex during our recent divorce.

As part of our divorce settlement I was ordered to sell the house. The tenant wanted to buy the house, and was looking for financing. My real estate agent recently informed me that an inspection turned up serious issues, including mold and faulty plumbing and so the house was not habitable or sellable. The mortgage is under water and I have no money for repairs, and have taken on a lot of debt related to the divorce.

The real estate agent said that she did not have a written inspection report. I don't know if this was a house inspector or a building inspector. I will send her a letter and ask for documentation.

She has not contacted me about any problems, either, so this is the first I've heard of it. I had assumed that since she was planning on buying the house, and I had given her blanket permission to do repairs, that she would have taken care of any serious problems.

My ex and I have agreed to allow the house to go into foreclosure (I will stop paying the mortgage, which is due on the 1st). At this point, I am concerned about the following questions:

* what is my liability exposure to the tenant? Should I give the tenant notice to move out and begin the eviction process?

* what is my liability exposure if the property is vacant and going through the foreclosure process?

* Do I have any recourse against the tenant for damages since she was supposed to have been making repairs? I have no formal agreement, just a couple of emails.

**EDIT**

I have decided to send the tenant a letter asking for documentation about the inspection, as well as giving her 30 days' notice.

Answer:
 It's hard to really evaluate without looking at the specific terms of your agreement.  In Texas, landlord tenant relations are governed by [Chapter 92 of the Property Code](http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PR/htm/PR.92.htm).  Anything not governed by the code is going to depend on the wording of your lease.

Depending on the specifics of how your agreement with your tenant is worded, you may have a problem under Section 92.006 which restricts agreements for the tenant to make repairs.  As a general rule, a landlord can't require tenants to make repairs at the the tenant's expense.  You mentioned that the tenant is deducting the cost of repairs from the rent, but if the cost of repairs exceed the total value of the rent (and it sounds like they might) you can't generally make the tenant responsible for that excess cost.

As for your potential liability to the tenant, your liability for leasing an uninhabitable dwelling is only triggered if the tenant makes a proper repair request under Section 92.056 and you don't subsequently make repairs.  Since you haven't received any communications from her, it sounds like she hasn't done that and you would therefore probably not be liable.  If she did make a request, however, you would then have to make the repairs, subject perhaps to Section 92.055 (if the house is really bad).

As for the foreclosure, if you've agreed to lease the premises beyond the period of time that the foreclosure would occur in, you have potential liability to the tenant because you've promised her something that you're now not going to deliver.  In other words, you want to make sure that you terminate the lease before the foreclosure if possible (which depends on the wording of your lease).


Title: Landlord has taken away everyone's keys to their mailboxes, wants full control to distribute mail himself.

Question:
I live in Auburn, WA, which is a southern suburb of Seattle. I live in a clean and sober apartment complex, which is owned by a small for-profit business. The business consists of about 3 small apartment complexes in the Auburn area that are all clean and sober living. I found out today that management has decided to take all the keys to the big mailbox on the street. Each individual apartment has it's own little box, housed in a big unit out on the street that is for the whole block.

So the obvious question I have is, is this legal? The first immediate thought upon hearing that this has happened was 'that couldn't possibly be legal, how could that be allowed'? I've lived in this facility for a year now, and in that time I have seen a lot of shady, probably illegal things, and poor business decisions. The garage below my apartment is full of black mold even!

Anyways, do I have any rights at all? This isn't your typical lease/renter agreement, so I have no idea what the law is or what my rights are. I know I sure as hell didn't sign a piece of paper when I moved in saying that I agreed to this sort of thing. This is brand new for them.

Do I have any legal recourse or any way to combat what they are trying to do? I contacted USPS to see if they could tell me anything, and after speaking to a supervisor and the lady doing some research, she basically came to the conclusion that because it's a C&S place, that they indeed are allowed to do this, and that they can even open the mail and inspect my mail if they want.

Edited for clarity: The mailbox is owned by USPS.
Topic:
Landlord Tenant Housing

Answer: So who mailed drugs to the clean and sober living facility?Answer #2: I would inform the post office and then i would get a po box.Answer #3: Call code enforcement or the city about the mold too.Answer #4: I would pay $6 a month and just get a box at the post office so they can't have control over that.Answer #5: You should check the context you signed upon entering the sober living. They do this to ensure you're not bringing drugs in the house.


Title: Say, hypothetically, that I, as a Texan, were to simply be in possession of a single pair of brass knuckles. What legal consequences could I face in this fictional scenario?

Answer: It's a Class A misdemeanor- Up to one year in Jail and a fine of up to $4,000.


Title: I want to republish my grandfather's out-of-print memoir.

Question:
My grandfather self-published a memoir in 1981. He died in 1993, and I actually don't know who holds the copyright now. If I had to guess, it might be my oldest aunt via inheritance, who I don't talk to much. There is no listed publisher, so my grandfather didn't even start his own indy publishing company to do it. It just says it was published in Los Angeles. I am in St. Petersburg, Florida. Also, the text was translated from another language into English by someone he hired at the time.

I have self published my own historical fiction novel which took inspiration from my grandfather's memoir, and ever since I've had a few people approach me asking where they can get a copy of my grandfather's memoir. But it isn't on sale anywhere, and I only own one copy myself. So the thought occurred to me, why not transcribe the whole thing and self publish it? I could even turn it into an ebook. I'm sure my grandfather would have wanted that.

I have yet to approach my relatives with this idea, but I will soon. I was wondering about the legal side of all this though. Is it legal for me to do this? Would the original translator need a share of the profits? I don't even know if he would still be alive.

Answer:
 You need permission from whichever relative(s) inherited the estate.

As for the translator, if he was hired and paid to do the work, the translation was probably owned by your grandfather.  But that depends on the terms of the agreement they reached.


Title: Coming off of a lease early?

Question:
My boyfriend and I had just moved in together. We paid our deposit and first months rent. Second month is coming up, but now I absolutely despise him. He’s not the person at all I thought he was. He’s become abusive.
Both of our names are on the lease. I live in Ohio. How can I move out? I don’t want to give him a notice because I’m scared. What can happen to me? I don’t care if my credit is damaged, or if other people won’t rent to me. I have a 2 year old daughter (not with him) and I need to leave for the both of us.

Answer:
 You can't "give him notice".  Well, you can, but it doesn't mean anything.

You have a contract between you, your boyfriend and the landlord.  You can't eliminate or alter that contract unless everyone **agrees** to this.

You are liable for the lease and your portion of it until you're voluntarily removed or the lease expires.  You can certainly move out at any time, but that doesn't absolve you of your monetary responsibilities.


Title: My brother murdered my Mother. Nobody cares

Question: [removed]

Answer:
 What does anyone do when they believe a crime was committed?

Call the police.


Title: Can I get in any legal trouble for buying Plan B for a 15 year old whose parents don't approve in Tennessee?

Question:
for bot- Tennessee

There is a girl (she's 15, I'm a 22 year old lady) that I've known for a few years. She's a friend of my younger cousin, I met her while spending time at my cousin's house.  We've become pretty close, I try to set good examples and I think she looks up to me a bit.  Her parents are very conservative and religious while she is not.  She asked me today if I would help her obtain Plan B from a store since she had sex last night and the condom broke.  She can't get it herself because she can't drive herself to the store, and her parents won't let her ride in a car with her friends driving so I can't just take her.  Her parents absolutely would not help if she asked, and she would be harshly punished if they knew she had sex.  I'm not opposed to it because I want her to be safe, and you can buy Plan B over the counter at age 15 so it's not illegal.  My concern is that if something were to happen to her (an allergic reaction or something similar that would cause her harm, could I be held responsible?  I know you can sue anyone for anything, but if her parents sued me for giving it to her and hurting her, would their case hold up?  Even if she isn't injured, could her parents successfully get me in trouble for going behind their backs to get it for her? Thanks.

Edit:  I just want to say that I do not condone or support her actions in any way.  I had a talk with her about responsibility and safety and maturity, and she agreed that the fact that she can't get her own Plan B when things go sour shows that she isn't prepared to be having sex in the first place.  I'm not looking to show her that she has a safety net to be taken for granted, I just really want her to not be pregnant and to learn this one time that she's not being responsible.
*edited for gender clarification.

Answer: Just wanted to let you guys know I went ahead and got it for her, and I gave it to my cousin to take to her house tonight since we didn't want to raise red flags with her parents by having a 22 year old (that her parents don't know) drop off a mysterious package and leave.  Thanks for all the help, I don't think anything else will come of it but if so, I'll update.  Thanks again!Answer #2: I mean...if you happened to buy one for yourself and she happened to steal it from your purse while you looked away...who is to know the difference? amirite?Answer #3: Does her parent have to agree to her taking this pill? If she can legally obtain and take it by herself there is no crime for you picking it up. I don't know the laws behind this pill in Denmark, but I do know that girls take them all the time (I mean, most girls have tried taking them here)


Title: Ticketed for driving without license in different state. License did not come up in data base.

Question:
I’m asking for a friend but here is what he told me happened.

 the story is I got a ticket for driving without my license and the lady looked me up to just see if I’m a driver in New York to not give me a ticket but when I gave her my info it didn’t pop up so today we went to the dmv and first tried to use the machine but it didn’t work just saying my info didn’t match any names so then we waited on like for a clerk to say the same thing that when he puts my info in nothing comes up so it’s either a spelling error by who ever printed out my id and registered me or somome just never registered me and gave me the id is all I can think of.

Basically he can’t find his id and didn’t know he did not have it on him when he was driving in the other state and got a ticket for driving without his license. They ticket would go away if they would be able to look up his license via data base but it wouldn’t register when the cop looked it up in the other state or when he went to the dmv.

If he can’t find his license or figure out what his ID number was on the id he’s gonna get a big fine and have to go to court for the court date, but is suppose to go away for school in September and needs to be able to drive when he goes away.

What steps should he take to fix this issue if any?

Answer:
 What's likelier here - that somehow, every possible way of looking him up in the DMV is misspelled, that a DMV employee simply failed to enroll him but still managed to get the system to print out a driver's license, that he has managed to both lose his license and doesn't have his DL number written down anywhere...

or he never had one?

The steps are to figure what happened to this questionably existing driver's license and then give the info to the court in NC.

If he hasn't got a driver's license, he needs to get one.  Otherwise, he needs to not drive.


Title: I believe my apartment complex is unknowlingly giving me $500 off each month. Can they legally request the money later?

Question:
I recently signed a lease and moved in to a new apartment complex. The manager in the office gave me a really generous $500 off for the first month due to miscommunication that happened earlier. He specifically said it was only for the first month.

Well I'm going on my second month and the complex has changed management teams, changed the name, and changed websites. Due to all of this confusion, I asked the leasing office directly to tell me what I owe for the month. Surprisingly it was $500 less than what I signed.

I logged in to the new website to view the bill details and it has this: "one time rent concession -$500" listed. I checked the following months up to January and it says the same thing.

I don't see why they would knowingly give me 500 off each month. It has to be a mistake.

My question is, if I continue to pay my rent at this discounted rate and they don't correct the mistake, am I liable and will I have to pay it back later if they do try to correct the bill? Is this illegal? Is it better if I just inform them or ask them about the discount?

I mean, who doesn't want $500 off rent but it makes me nervous.

Answer: My suggestion is set it aside in a high interest account. Worst case they get smart on the discount and request payment, and you're up the amount of interest earned. Best case they never mention it and you move out eventually with a nice emergency fund.


Title: OCS Denying Rights to Practice Religion

Question:
The situation is extremely complicated - but to try to keep it simple:

OCS is requiring my wife and I to NOT attend our church if my wife's daughter is there. They say we are not allowed to be in contact within the "community" or in public.

This is just ONE of MANY things OCS is doing to my wife. They have no accountability. They are literally trying to control our lives.

The question I have is: is it legal for a State (AK) agency to dictate where/when we and our daughter practice religion?

Many thanks in advance. There may be many other questions that arise - they are doing some really shady stuff.

Answer:
 If they made an order that extreme there is a reason.

But yes they can. They are not denying you the right to tactics your religion you just can't be in contact with the child. So go at a different time or find a new church.


Title: UPDATE: Contractor Does Subpar Work, Threatens Mechanics Lien, Plot Twist... Hires Attorney... All Over $1500.

Question:
Dear /r/LegalAdvice,

This is an update to this thread where a contractor did bad work to our hardwood floors.

Summary: He let an inexperienced crew botch the original work, redid the work partially himself, had a meltdown when I called him out on trying to use cheaper finish, and unfortunately the floors still didn't turn out good.

Some elaborating may be needed for today's concerns, Kansas for reference.

The work ended last Tuesday, I said he should come look at the floors as there were still some things that where not right, he declined and said that he was sure they were acceptable but offered to drop the price to $1200. I asked for a few days to figure out what I wanted to do. By Friday I had 2 people come in and quote the floors. When he texted me back, again Friday, to check in I told him what they said, that they were not what a customer should normally expect. He asked me what I wanted him to do, and I said essentially, "not expect me to pay you for sub par work that needs to be redone" originally stating that I did not really want to pay $500 for an inspector. He threatened the Mechanics lean would be filed Monday for the full $1500 if I did not pay him. I did not reply that day. I contacted another NWFA (National Wood Flooring Association) inspector who luckily will only cost $300 for full documentation of the floors condition and can do it this coming Tuesday, I am admittedly a bit concerned that they may find the floors meet a bare minimum standard of acceptability, as stated in the last thread I indended on paying him by my own accord under that circumstance. I texted him today (Sunday) and told him I will be having and NWFA inspector come in on Tuesday or Wednesday. He responded again saying the Mechanics Lien would be filed Monday, and that any further communication would be through his attorney, who I should be expecting a letter from. Figured it would be best if I didn't reply at this point and wait to hear from the attorney.

First thing that I would like to note, it has been 5 days since the work was completed. My largest concern assuming that he actually has an attorney is that he could attempt to saddle me with legal fees, is that even a remote possibility? Sounds like he has a vendetta and I don't know why he would be trying otherwise. I never even said that I did not intend on paying him, saying that I wanted him to not expect me to pay for sub par work was as close as I got. I've informed him that I wanted an expert opinion but he wont wait.

He's also told me that Liens carry interest, I would have to assume it is a lawyer telling him this. More-so that they could ask for interest in the lawsuit, at ridiculous interest rate I'm sure.

It may be worth noting we are living in the garage at this point, nothing is in the house, he may have driven by and seen our cars here and assumed that we where taking advantage of his "improvements" but I'm only here because I have a bad back and it's not feasible to move our Cal-King mattress out and back in. Yes it is cold. We basically walk across the floors to use the bathroom, but otherwise it has made our house unlivable for the time being due to legal concerns.

So yeah, how screwed am I?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE: I got a call back from the NWFA about how it handles members that do not meet their standards of acceptability. They were having trouble finding the company... Drumroll... This flooring company is falsely advertising as being members of the NWFA, they should be receiving a cease and desist sometime hah, part of me hopes they file suit before they get it. I already archived it with archive.org, I am no longer nervous, depending if the inspector tomorrow can speculate that an excessive amount of sanding has been done I may be seeking new hardwood floors. Unfortunately that would cost more than the $4k limit to small claims court. At least I'll sleep well tonight.

Answer:
 What /u/GaryBuseyWithRabies said. This is SO IMPORTANT:

>Don't take legal advice from the other side.

Get your own legal advice. The other side is the enemy and they'll do anything, even lie, to screw you.Answer #2: Do you have a written contract?  That is thing one required for a lien.

If he files, you can contest the lien.Answer #3: Original thread: Contractor Botched Work, I Refused To Pay As It Must Be Redone, He Is Threatening A Mechanics Lien
https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/5dplux/contractor_botched_work_i_refused_to_pay_as_it/


Title: Toxic work environment

Question:
Hello all, I'm from Illinois and I'm looking for some advice/help on a situation at work.  My work environment is very toxic.

My boss is making it her mission for me to quit because she disliked that I went to hr about the way she is managing the Department.  Everyday now she makes sure to either talk to me with attitude and disapproval.

I don't want hr to talk to get bc I know she will come after me even worse.

I want to make sure I am ok if anything does happen and I feel like I can no longer work in such an environment of I could still apply for unemployment benefits.

If I have the hr rep send me the notes of the meeting her and I have will that be enough to prove I left due to bullying and unhappy work environment?

Answer:
 It is not illegal for your boss to be mean to you.

Your recourse is through HR.


Title: Is a bank liable for cashing an unendorsed check?

Question:
Hi Reddit, I'm not sure if this is the correct sub to post this to, but I'm hoping someone can answer my question.

I am an insurance agent that is paid on commission. I found out yesterday that my former partner opened a check addressed to me that was mailed to his business and either cashed or deposited it into his account. I have already filed a police report regarding the person that actually cashed the check.

One of the investigators contacted me and told me the check was deposited at a Wells Fargo but was denied. Then the check was taken to a local, regional bank where it cleared with no problem. An image of the check shows that it was not signed. The check only has an electronic endorsement from the bank it was cashed/deposited at.
Which brings me to my question.. This bank should have never allowed a check that was made payable to me, to clear without my signature, correct? If so, what action can I take to hold this banking institution accountable?

This happened in the US by the way, specifically North Carolina.

EDIT: This is an image of the check from the bank
http://imgur.com/aT6wAfI

Answer:
 Resident expert on articles 3 and 4 of the UCC here.

You have no recourse against the bank. There's a very specific chain of liability involved:

 Your recourse is against the person who wrote you the check - they never paid you. They can file a fraudulent endorsement affidavit with their bank, who will refund them the money. That bank will seek reimbursement from Wells Fargo. Wells will go after the guy who deposited it in his account.


Title: UTAH- Uber driver secretly recorded my friends and I and now stalking a girl we were talking about

Question:
A few of us met up a friends house and took an uber to the airport. The uber arrived just before our last friend showed up. The girl he was dating dropped her off and our uber driver noticed her.

The girl my friend was dating texted us after and told us our uber driver looked her up on facebook (i guess he remembered her name from our conversation) and started sending her messages. "Hey, did I see you before taking your friends to the airport?" And told her that we were talking crap on her and that he would like to date her. He had recorded us talking about her and is now sending her audio recordings to her of us, and from himself about how much he likes her.

This guy could obviously be dangerous too. What legal case, if any, might we have here for all party members involved?
Topic:
Troll Post

Answer:
 She chose to friend this person.  Nobody forced her.

She should block and ignore.  Without proof of a threat to her safety, there is no legal action to be taken.


Title: I just got evicted for leaving the window open while the AC was running. I also don't have a lease. (NJ)

Question:
Hi everyone,

I'm renting a room in a finished basement from my landlord who lives upstairs with her husband. I originally had a roommate (that already lived here before I did - I did not know him beforehand), but he was evicted, so now it's just me.

About a week ago, I got a text from my landlord saying that I left the window open while the AC was running. She ended up going into my room and taking the thermostat out. I never even touched the thermostat because I didn't want to accidentally make her bill higher - thus, I just left the window open when it was hot.

She said that she found my behavior "extremely disrespectful" - as if I did it on purpose. Accidents happen, I apologized, and I would gladly give her money to make up the difference on the bill. Instead, she told me that I have two weeks to move out. Okay..... she never even gave me a warning ("Hey, our bill was high, can you pay the difference and not do it again?", etc).

I also do not have a lease. I literally just PayPal her money every month. I'm sure this complicates things.

I really can't afford to live anywhere else, and this place is a good deal, even though my landlord is kind of a nutcase (I made a previous thread about how she comes into the basement while I'm not there). I'm wondering what my rights are here, and how to fight eviction.

Thanks!

Answer:
 Since you don't have an actual lease, you'd be considered a month-to-month tenant.

Your landlord has to give you 30 days notice to vacate. If she gave you notice today, you have 30 days until you're legally required to vacate. (Your landlord cannot kick you out after 2 weeks)


Title: 17 Year Old phony DUI Charge

Question:
TOOK PLACE IN LAS VEGAS, NV

Hello everyone. I’ve seen the amazing things you guys have been able to do for people looking for legal help and i’m hoping you can do the same for me. I am 17 years old and I am being charged with a DUI for allegedly driving under the influence of marijuana and possession. The problem is, I was never driving.

Last night I was with a friend in a park when we noticed some people looking at us from a distance. We decide it’s best to head back to the car to listen to music so we go back and sit down. We are both in a public park in a parked car bothering no one at this point when police car pulls up behind us. I notice the light and tell my acquaintance to sit still stop talking and look forward but he continued to look back and panic.

 The officer came out of the car and walked up to the window when i began to talk to him completely calm and coherently. He begins to press me and asks what we’ve been doing tonight and I say that we’re just relaxing in the car. The officer began to get upset and tells me to sit still and put my hands on the wheel. I complied and told him that there is nothing bad in the car. The officer continued to get nervous and i went to grab my wallet from my pocket when the officer quickly told me to keep my hands on the wheel another time. The officer then asked me to leave my vehicle, they detained me, and apparently my friend ran away. He was able to run into the nature and get away but it would've been very unwise if I had tried running as well since my car connects me to the scene. I was very relaxed but the officers didn’t know our intentions so they began to panic. At the time things were moving very quickly but i complied with everything the officers asked and i answered their questions perfectly. They then pushed me against my mom's car, cuffed me, and brought  me to one of the police cars to stare at the lights. Throughout the whole process the officers were very aggressive but they were nervous so i understand why they were so on edge. They then brought me over to one of the cars and a I stood waiting for instruction. I made clear my intentions were not to hurt anyone and that everyone was misunderstanding. No one listened. I then became silent and eventually told the officer I'd like to invoke my 5th amendment right once they began questioning me about what happened. I then sat in the car waiting for further processing. Eventually the officer comes in the car and I ask if anyone got hurt and if everything is okay. He tells me that everyone is fine and we go to the hospital.

In the Hospital they continue processing and eventually take me to an area to draw blood for testing and i go through that. At the end of the process i am released from the police's custody and put under the nurses jurisdiction. I am very relieved at this point and begin talking to the officer as a friend and everything begins to calm down. Later on they searched the car and find a few grams of marijuana in my backpack and now I have a court date where we will discuss the charges of possession and a DUI. I never moved the car from park and there are no witnesses to say otherwise so i don't believe i will be charged with a DUI and i'm hoping to fight the possession charge as well by saying that my friend put his belongings in my bag so technically I didn't possess any substances and they have no way of proving the following:
1. if i drove under the influence at any point
2. if i possessed any illicit substance
3. if i was high at all during the night or if it was simply in my system from before.

I believe i handled the situation fairly well and any advice you guys can give me for court and for the future would be very appreciated. I've learned so much by going through this and I realized that if I hadn't been educated about my rights this situations could have turned out much worse and I may have even ended up dead because of how on-edge the officers were. I really did see murder in their eyes and I believe they were definitely willing to kill me and my friend if it came to that. Like I said, any help/advice and information on what charges i’m looking at will be of great great use because as a 17 year-old my parents and I don' have the funds to pay any more lawyer/dui/court/hospital fees. If you guys have any questions for me I am willing to provide any necessary information. Thanks again guys :)

Answer:
 Paragraphs are your friend.  No one is reading that wall of text.

The following is all but certain:

* You didn't handle things as well as you think you did.
* They have better evidence than you think they do.
* You need a lawyer, either court appointed or in person.Answer #2: >The problem is, I was never driving.

You never explained how your mom's car got to the park.

It probably doesn't matter, because driving is probably defined as having the car under your control.  And, sitting at the wheel of the car is having you at control.

That, and you had pot in your backpack.  And, your friend ran away.

Bottom line:  You need an attorney.  Chances are that that attorney will not consider any of the circumstances that you are describing as a viable defense against the crimes you are accused of.  If you try to pull that off in court, it's very unlikely you will get very far.


Title: Got a spending ticket. would like some suggestions and reviews for my planned course of action.

Question:
US, California - I was pulled over for driving at 80 mph on a 65 mph freeway, on a Friday night at 1:20 AM. I was driving my family women back home from a function. There were 2 old women, my mom, my sister, my cousin sister and her 2 year old daughter.

This is what I was planning to do:
1) Extend the court date as much as possible.
2) On court day, tell the judge that we were returning from a baby shower, and I had been driving for almost 2 hours straight. There were old women who were tired and sleepy. I was just trying to get them home safely and quickly. I was constantly looking at my speed to make sure I wasn't speeding, but after such a long drive and empty roads, I didn't realize how fast I was going until the cop caught me. I wasn't changing lanes, and wasn't driving recklessly. I am a student, and don't work and had volunteered to drive for the women's safety. I can't afford to pay the ticket cost. Since this is my first ticket, I request you to pardon me this one time, and I promise you I will be more mindful of my speed. Also I would like to thank the officer, he was patient and helpful in assisting me in finding my way back home.

I have read that I should ask for the radar calibration date and questions that put the accuracy of the ticket in doubt. But I was thinking to go with a more sympathetic approach by acknowledging that I was over speeding without realizing it. What do you think and suggest?

Answer:
 >  I was constantly looking at my speed to make sure I wasn't speeding

So your defense is that, despite your best effort, you were unable to keep the vehicle under the legal speed limit?Answer #2: None of your planned actions are a valid defense to speeding, and none of them are going to get you out of a ticket.


Title: Am I partially liable if someone hit my car while it was parked?

Question:
So I was at a friends house and parked on the street next to their driveway. The back of my car was protruding into their driveway entrance about a foot, and the driveway was a standard 2 car width (maybe 25 feet?). While I was inside the house my friends sister backed out and she sideswiped my bumper. Now I assumed that the legal fault was on her considering my car was parked and I wasn’t in it, but now her dad says that we shouldn’t get insurance involved and that I should pay for at least half of the damage. I’ve been quoted at it costing between 1600-3000 to fix. Am I partially liable or should I get the insurance involved?
Topic:
Insurance

Answer: I wouldn't pay. A driver is responsible to avoid stationary objects, including illegally parked cars. Have them go through insurance. Their insurance could indeed find you partially at fault.


Title: Kentucky- Girlfriend signed a lease with two roommates who know about her severe pet allergies. They are planning on getting a non-hypoallergenic dog next week. Legal options?

Question: [deleted]

Answer:
 I wonder if there's more to the story here (meaning, they aren't getting along and are trying to force her out).

Has she told you any more history?Answer #2: She needs to put her foot down and tell them they're not getting a dog, period.

Also if she does all the driving, she should just not drive them to pick up said dog. Answer #3: Does the landlord and/or the lease allow them to have a dog?

In the future, your girlfriend might want to consider making sure any leases she signs with roommates forbid dogs. Answer #4: Multiple roommates and animals DO NOT MIX allergies or not.

Not a legal reason but a life reason.


Title: Animal neglect - city police and animal control doing nothing

Question:
Location:  Northern West Virginia, United States

I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible.  A friend noticed that a neighbor had been away from their home for over a week and knew that they had multiple animals in the home, and grew concerned about their wellbeing.  The city police were called and told her that even if there was a child inside the house, then nothing could be done about it.

A few days later she again called the police and animal control when a dead cat appeared on the porch.  Animal control could not be reached and the city police refused to do anything, but a state police officer who lived nearby was contacted and was able to recover some of the animals inside.  Inside there were 4 dogs and over 30 cats, who were all very thirsty and hungry.  The state police officer was finally able to convince the city police to come out, and the city police were able to convince an animal control officer to come out.  The officer told them to put the dogs back into the house because they were out of office until Monday.

They were able to be convinced to take the dogs, but refused to take the cats until Monday.  Monday came around and animal control returned the dogs to the house and refused to take the cats.  I understand that animal neglect has recently been made a felony crime.  Is there anything that can be done about this, any higher authority we should try to contact?  Or are we going overboard and this is truly not an instance of animal neglect?  Thank you for any input!

I only have a couple of pictures of the home and dogs, and I agree the dogs don't look too bad.  The home, number of animals, and conditions of the past few weeks bother me though.

Home:
http://imgur.com/6BPQSnh
http://imgur.com/0zEZRjg

Dogs:
http://imgur.com/A7LVung
http://imgur.com/LjKJ0gX
Topic:
Criminal Law

Answer: Jesus. I would report this to the local news and start calling rescue groups to pick up the animals.


Title: Employer is forcing me to clock out during the day. Is this legal?

Question:
Long story:
I work at an outpatient rehab facility in Michigan. They've recently started a policy saying anytime a therapist is not actively in a session with a patient we must clock out to be at a certain productivity percentage. Problem is, even when I'm not treating a patient, I'm often finishing documentation and paperwork, calling doctors to get prescriptions for patients, or making referrals; basically even if I'm not with someone, I'm still 'working'. My employer is enforcing a strict 75% productivity rule; if you have 3 pay periods in a year you are under this %, you get fired. When I brought up the issue that my employer agreed to have me work and pay me for a minimum number of hours a week, my employer told me to use my PTO to make up the difference, which would leave me with no PTO for sick or vacation days. Can they do this? Some weeks it's difficult to make productivity because of cancelations or winter weather. Unfortunately, lunches take a huge hit out of my productivity, but I have a hard time working a 10 hr day with no lunch....Any suggestions?

UPDATE:
A bunch of therapists (myself not included) wrote anonymous letters to management, which they were pretty pissed about.  We've now been told they are going to reduce our hours or lay us off...

Answer:
 Assuming you're paid hourly, you must be paid for every hour you work. I would escalate the issue (*very* politely) above your supervisor.

If that goes nowhere, start looking for a new job and file a claim with your states Department of Labor for your unpaid time.Answer #2: >Can they do this?

Absolutely not. If you are there and working you must be paid your hourly wage.

Bring it up with your supervisors, then file a wage claim with the department of labor for your state.Answer #3: Everyone who is subjected to this should file a wage claim