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Vendor Contract Liability question

contract

Hi, ​ Full disclosure I'm not a lawyer or a business person.... I am a media production vendor and have one clause I'm curious about in a contract with a new client. ​ Company’s total liability to Vendor for all claims or suits of any kind, whether based upon contract, tort (including negligence), warranty, strict liability, or otherwise, for any losses, damages, costs or expenses of any kind whatsoever arising out of, resulting from, or related to the performance or breach of this Agreement shall NOT, under ANY circumstances, exceed the fees paid under this Agreement. Company shall not, under any circumstances, be liable for any special, indirect, incidental, punitive, or consequential losses, damages, costs, or expenses whatsoever even if Company has been advised of the possibility of same. Any action against Company arising out of, resulting from, or related to the performance or breach of this Agreement shall be filed not later than one year after the cause of action has accrued. ​ My understanding is this basically says if I sue the client, they can only owe me my total fee and no additional damages. I asked for reciprocity on this clause and they said it's not possible / irrelevant because there's no situation where I would be liable to them as they're not doing any work for me, the work is only flowing in one direction. Does that make sense and a fairly standard thing, or should I push back and if so how? I'm concerned if there were ever a suit/counter suit I could be in a position to owe them a million dollars while they would only owe me 50k.

If I move out of an apartment without giving notice to someone I met on Craigslist, can they press charges?

housing

I'm not looking for any judgments or life advice, strictly legal information. I live in Oregon and I found a woman on craigslist back in May to live with. I was kind of in a bind and needed a place since my lease was up and rent was getting ridiculous. We agreed to $450 a month including rent and utilities. She wrote out a contract with rules for the house (don't be loud, clean up after yourself...) and rent amounts etc. that we both signed. She seemed really nice at first but has turned out to be kind of crazy. I think she was looking for someone to be friends with and hang out, and when she realized I wasn't, she now refuses to even be in the same room as me. Anyways, I told her before I signed the contract that I was only looking to stay until the last week of August/first week of September. But I would for sure be out by September 10th. Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to have her include all of that in the signed contract. I have now found a place to live and told her today that I would be out by September 3rd. In the past she has always been very particular about having payments due on the fourteenth of every month. Since rent is due tomorrow, I asked if it was ok that I payed $290.32 for payment between August 14 and September 3. She is now upset that I am not paying her for a full months rent but insists I have to pay her an additional $25 ($315 total) because rent is on a 30 day basis, therefore $15 a day. If that's the case I should have paid more money for May because there is 31 days between May 14th and June 13th, which I didn't. I know it sounds stupid arguing over $15 but I have had to put up with so much over the past few months that I don't feel like I should owe her extra money. Things like, I'm missing my checkbook and think she may have took it. My question is, if I only pay her $290.32 can she take me to court? If I just move out tomorrow without giving notice is that illegal or can she still take me to court? Basically, is the contract I signed completely binding? It hasn't been notarized or anything. It was just the two of us there that signed it. I seriously don't feel comfortable living here for multiple reasons and need some serious advice, not life judgments. Thank you in advance! Edit: this is not an apartment complex, this is a woman's house that she owns and is letting me rent a room in.

Signed contract with severe errors, gym is still trying to enforce it

contract

I live in Texas. TL;DR; I signed a contract that I consider to be invalid. The other party is attempting to enforce it. I signed up for a year's worth of personal training sessions at a big chain gym for $X,XXX. When I signed the contract, due to a mistake by a gym staff member the personal training sessions were added to my wife's account, not mine. This is super annoying. Whenever I attempt to schedule training sessions or to interact with the system I can not access my account without using my wife's login. After two months of complaining to them and asking for a fix I finally figured out what happened. When I initially signed up for the training sessions the gym messed up big time. At the top of the contract is says my wife's name. At each point where there is a signature it has printed my wife's name followed by my signature. Where there are initials it has my wife's initials printed out and my initials that I signed. If the issue had been fixed promptly I would have been happy and moved on with my life. But after two months of being ignored I am sick and tired of dealing with the problem and I just want to be done with the personal trainers at this gym. But the gym won't let me out of the contract, and the only way they are willing to switch the personal trainer over to my account is if I sign a completely new contract. To me, it seems like the original contract is just plain invalid and therefore not binding. If it didn't matter whose name was printed on the contract, why even include the printed name on the contract? And why would they need me to sign a new contract if the old one was still binding? How should I handle this? I don't really have any damages, so I don't know if this would be worthy of small claims court. My wife and I paid a one time $XXX fee to the gym when we first got our memberships (they require this fee when you first open a membership account). We would like to continue using the gym, but I'm concerned if I stop paying for the personal trainer they will suspend our regular memberships and we will be out of several hundred dollars. Thanks in advance for your advice.

[NY] Accidentally Made an illegal left turn at 1 AM, GPS told me to. Signs are very inconspicuous. Got a 2 point ticket. Do I have a shot fighting it at the [NYC] TVB?

driving

**MY ARGUMENT ISN'T MERELY, "MY GPS TOLD ME TO"! PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING** Basically, I was driving down Broome Street at 1 AM, and my in car GPS told me to make a left turn onto Bowery. Streets were dark and empty. All of the sudden I see the police lights behind me on Bowery and I pull over. Pretty much every other time I've gotten pulled over I knew, or at least was pretty sure of what I did wrong. This was not one of those times. They (2 officers) come to my window, and ask for my license/registration. I give it to them, and ask why I was stopped, and she told me I made an illegal left turn. I was confused at that point, but went for my usual strategy of apologizing. I'll usually admit what I did wrong right off the bat, but this time I genuinely didn't know I wasn't supposed to make a left. Then she told me there were 3 no left turn signs. I was again confused, because I usually notice those signs. I ask her if I could be let go with a warning or at least a no point ticket because its very important that my NYS record remain clean. She said she was writing me a summons and didn't know how many points it was. Damn near 20 minutes later, she gave me the ticket and drove away. The ticket/summons was: **Disobey sign/traffic control device**. I it looked up to see if it carries any points, and it does; it carries 2 points. This is not what I need after finally having a clean NY license for a year. I racked up 10 points from ages 17-19, I'm 22 now, and those points have just recently gone away. I drive for uber (not in NYC, in NJ, I do it while I go to school in NJ) so I want my license to remain clean. Not to mention that this comes with a $235 fine, as if I'm made of that kind of money. If this was an $85 no point ticket I'd just pay it and move on. My case would be as follows (I'd appreciate any tips): * No left turn signs are almost always, in New York City and the rest of the country, put on traffic lights or stop signs - the usual traffic control devices you look to. Look at the [Google Street view](https://www.google.com/maps/@40.719325,-73.9941522,3a,75y,293.98h,84.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siTjwFWGoPLO7rTVOxuwMog!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1). **The 1st one** is on top of a no standing sign. I can very reasonably not pay attention to a post with a parking/standing regulation sign when I do not intend to park/stand. Never have I seen a traffic control device (that doesn't involve parking/standing) on top of a no standing or a no parking sign. This sign is also very far from the corner, plus there is a traffic light clearly visible, so it's not like it would be a stop sign. **The 2nd one** is tucked very high on a street lamp above a bunch of street corner signs (I.e. Broome street/Bowery and another sign). **And BTW, the street view image makes the signs look more prevalent than they are. The cameras on those street view cars are mounted much higher than normal eye level of the driver, giving it a better view.** Unless you were purposefully canting your head too far upwards (and thereby not paying attention to the road well enough if you're moving at any speed above 2 MPH), you will not see that sign. **The 3rd one**, while technically on the same pole as the traffic light, is also quite inconspicuous and obstructed to anyone who would want to make a left turn onto Bowery. First of all, it is partially blocked by the actual arm holding the traffic light. Second of all, it is much lower and further back than the actual light; if DOT really wanted it to be visible they'd have something like [this](http://cdn01.boweryboogie.com/content/uploads/2012/08/left-turn-essex-2-620x465.jpg): the sign would be where you would naturally look, the traffic light. * This occurred at 12:50 AM on a Tuesday. Most left turn restrictions are time dependent (i.e. you can't do it from 7 AM to 7 PM). That in itself is not an excuse, but consider this: the placement of the signs are a lot more visible in cases of very heavy traffic, which is when you're barely moving and can look around; and also usually when its light outside. Which brings me to my next point: not only were the signs in inconspicuous locations, but also it was dark and the signs were not adequately illuminated. * In sum, Broome street on a weekday at 1 AM has no traffic, allowing you to cruise at 20-25 MPH. The signs are already somewhat inconspicuous for someone driving at 3 MPH during the day; what does that say about someone driving at 25 at night? This all makes sense now too. It's almost too perfect. It's as if it was designed for tickets. The fact that officers were hiding in that spot looking for people to miss those signs at night almost seems as if this was intentional collaboration with NYCDOT and NYPD. Technically I broke the law. But that's how this intersection was designed. BTW to those who don't know what the TVB is, basically its the traffic "court" system in NYC thats not actually a legal court. Quoted from the [wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_Violations_Bureau): >Because the rules of evidence, specifically the right of discovery and the admissibility of hearsay, are more lax than in normal court, the TVB system has often been characterized as a difficult or biased one. The absence of an option to plead to reduced charges, traditionally a staple of traffic court, has been especially criticized. [...] The threshold of conviction is "clear and convincing evidence", in contrast to the general definition of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. This is a lower standard, making conviction easier. […] The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles has in the past noted that a 65% conviction rate is required to maintain the financial viability of the Traffic Violations Bureau System. To the law and order crowd foaming at the mouth because I got this ticket: kindly fuck off. If you honestly think I deserve a $235 fine and 2 points because of this, then you're beyond being reasoned with. **TL;DR -** 1 AM, empty streets. Car GPS told me to make a left turn, turns out that wasn't legal. Signs are small, not well lit, and not where they usually are (next to the street lights). Got pulled over and was given a 2 point ticket. I have proof that my car's GPS system told me to do so (went back and did the same location, and inputted the same address, videoing my GPS telling me to make a left). Do I have a shot fighting this at the TVB? [TVB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_Violations_Bureau) is much more brutal than tradition traffic court. ^*pun ^not ^intended **EDIT**: Can I ask why I had to lose 50+ comment karma from this post? Why are some of you people so hostile? Pretty much every one of my comments are down voted, even ones as innocuous as "Sounds like I'd need an expert witness and/or lawyer for that?" (-3) "I'd actually be willing to look at that. Where would I go about finding these codes?" (-5) and "No" (-3). Why are you people so angry? Why can't I ask for legal advice without hostility? Some of you were helpful, and I thank you, but some of you gave me undue hostility. I have a bad taste in my mouth from this. I considered deleting this post because I got my basic answers and I didn't want to lose any more karma, but I'm keeping it out of respect for the guidelines.

Veteran bias in job interview

employment

It was brought up by the board of interviewers, that interviewed me, that they had discussed my veteran status prior to the interview and were worried that my military “experience” would lead me to not get along with would be peers. They suggested I apply for a different position and denied my application. This was a DOD contractor (Lockheed Martin) and they are supposed to record all interviews, but the investigator (internal to the company) said nothing was recorded. I exceeded all requirements for this position and feel I was discriminated against. Is there an inexpensive was for me to subpoena them for the recording? Because I believe it does exist and will substantiate my claims

Business debit card compromised HELP! (Xpost from /r/smallbusiness)

business

I have a debit card for my business account, and the card was compromised. We reported it as stolen, but not before $1000 was fraudulently charged to my account. I just recently changed this account type from personal to business and thought the same rules applied. The federal law states that if you report a card stolen within two days you are only on the hook for $50. My bank is telling me that law doesn't apply to business accounts. I've looked up the law myself and it says "consumer" then gives the description as " the term "consumer" means a natural person" So... Are there no laws to protect businesses as consumers? The companies who charged my card are listed as Solid Scape, and Indonesia. I've spoken with solid scape (a 3D printer Company I don't do business with) they say they show no such charges on their end. law for reference: https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/rules/6500-1350.html Edit#1 The address for both companies was the same street address but different states. One in California and one in Idaho. The California address is for Swipe card processing so I've written an email to them. The Idaho address is nonexistent.

Personal Liability if Nonprofit is Sued? [Wisconsin]

business

I live in Wisconsin and work for a small non-profit of about 10 staff. I oversee 5 of them and am considered an officer by our director, but I do not sign checks or make policy. I received an email from my boss today letting me know that our insurance has dropped our Directors and officers liability Insurance for any cases of the coronavirus. He summed it up by saying that if we get sued because someone gets sick, I can be held personally liable. On a gut level, that didn't seem right, but I am not a lawyer. Is that true? If so, is there anything I can do to protect myself?

College Student Trying to Break Lease

housing

I’m a junior in college now and currently living off campus, and plan on doing so next year. I have already signed for a different house with the same landlord for next year, but I have the option to graduate early and leave school. This would save me a huge sum of money but the lease I signed for the house is for both semesters of school. Is there any way legally I can get out of the lease without finding someone to to take my spot? If it’s for a good reason such as graduating?

Employer changed terms of stock options 3 months after hiring and accepting the offer letter

contract

Today my company announced anyone hired after April 3rd (I was hired April 6th) no longer gets stock options but rather RSU’s as compensation, this goes against my signed offer letter that says I would be given X amount of company options. They’re claiming this is better but I have trouble seeing how it could be better if the company is still private. Can they legally do this, should I push back? I’m kinda bothered they just announced it blindly this morning and basically negged on my offer letter.

I want to legally change my name, would that affect child support.?

family

I am currently 17 years old, and I am wanting to change my name. My biological father divorced my mom when I was seven, and he has been paying child support since then. I have had no contact with him (by his choice) since I was 13, but he is still currently legally obligated to pay child support. If I were to change my first, middle, and last name, would I need his consent, and if not, would it affect his obligation to pay child support? I live in Michigan, if that helps. I can't find a solid answer online from a completely reputable source.

Signed a year lease for $1875 from August 2015 to July 2016. The lease contained a hold over clause that if we kept staying there but didn't sign a new lease, we would go to a month-by-month. This happened and now the landlord says we owe him rent until July even if we want to leave now.

housing

I'm in Columbus, Ohio. In the section about staying after the lease had ended, it says that the tenants will move to a month-by-month basis but the rent will increase to $3500 a month. We kept living there but the landlord kept accepting the old amount of rent. If we tell him that we want to leave before the year is up can he retroactively come after that increased rent even if he was ok accepting if for months?

Inheritance from estranged father's mother.

wills

I have been estranged from my biological father for going on 11 years now after his mother died in 2006. I have a half brother who is still close to my father (He's like a surrogate son to him) My brother and sister-in-law informed me on Christmas that my grandmother, who raised me till she had a stroke when I was six, left me a sum of money. I want nothing to do with this man or his new family but being the only grandchild to his mother, she left me a sum of money. I don't know if it's $500 or $500k (Its possible). But my first reaction that I had when my brother told me about the money was "Donate it to charity, fuck him (father) and fuck her (stepmother) too." And left quite soon after. (The year before, I was told that my father had a heart attack in 2016. And nobody attempted to contact me. I found out that my grandmother died from my aunt who was married to his best friend at the time of her death.) I have now been reprimanded that despite my feelings about my father and his new family, my grandmother loved me and it would be wrong not to take the money. I feel like the fuck up son, coming in as soon as someone said "money." My best friends reasoning was that if I was going to donate it to charity I should be the one to donate it or there's a chance it'll go to some bullshit like Joel Olstein. I want to make an inquiry into seeing how much it is and to receive it with as little contact as possible. What is the best way to go about this. I really want an intermediary but I'm completely lost on how this works. Location of all parties involved is Texas.

My infant and I currently live in a one bedroom. Can my child be removed for lack of proper bedroom?

family

Portland, OR. My pregnancy was a surprise because I was on BC. The father and I were in a few months long relationship when we found out. He was severely unsupportive and did not want a child. I severed ties after him and his parents harassed me to abort. I saved all that in case I ever needed it. I eventually had to move because of his harassment. She was a surprise, but I am 28 years old. I wasn’t terribly scared and I wanted to keep my baby. All I could comfortably afford while still being able to provide a stable life for my child was a one bedroom apartment in a good area. She sleeps in a bassinet in the bedroom next to my bed. She has a crib because I sold my dining room table so I could convert the dining room to a nursery area, but she doesn’t care for the crib. She’s only five months old. I’m currently on track in my career and in repairing my credit to be able to afford/qualify for a home mortgage in 2 years time. I figured we should be in at least a 2 bedroom home by the time she’s two and a half. My daughter goes to the doctor once a month for check ups and is currently hitting all her milestones. My close friend for years now is a registered nurse who is out of work currently because she’s a new mother as well. So when I need childcare, she babysits my daughter. I don’t have family nearby. But mostly I work for home, so I don’t need childcare on any regular basis. I have regularly meet up with her father in public places so he can spend time with her with me present. He does not know where I live. Apparently he found out from someone I was in a one bedroom apartment but he doesn’t know where. He sent me a text yesterday: “It’s illegal to give a child their own bedroom. Give full custody to ******* (his mother) or CPS will take her from you and she will get her anyways. You’re a terrible mom”. Earlier that day I declined for my daughter to be able to visit my ex’s mom because she has a hard drug problem and her house is disgusting. I told him she could join us all at the next meet up but that was all. I informed him that I’m willing to go to a mediator or even family court so we work out an official custody arrangement, but every time I bring it up he doesn’t respond. I don’t want child support. He’s never brought it up and neither have I.

Is it possible for me to go into debt if the company I work for goes bankrupt?

business

Hi! I have a question. I am planning to join a bioengineering startup. The work is great! I would be in charge of contacting potential foreign clients to sell our product. They said that I would be free to do as I please to get new customers! The only problem? The company is not doing so well. I mean, it could go bankrupt TOMORROW. Still, I wanna join, because the opportunity is great, and I don't think that I will be able to find another job this good considering my near non-existant experience. My concern is, is it possible for me to go into debt if my company goes under? FYI, I wouldn't own the business, since I will be just an employee. I'm worried that if I join this firm and it goes bankrupt, I will have debt piled on me too. Thank you!:D

Can I produce my own labeled/branded very much like "Dr.Martens" designed boots?

business

Is there any license/patent potential issues?

[CALIFORNIA] Tenant Eviction Protection expiring on February 1. Hypothetical Question Inside.

housing

I missed the past few months of rent due to loss of income. I filled out the COVID documentation, and am only required to pay 25% of the past due balance. It is said that CA lawmakers are looking to extend the rent eviction program before it expires soon. Assuming that it does extend, will I be able to hold off payment for a little, or will I still be required the past due payments. I could use the extra time (not fully) to render payment. Thank you in advance.

Can an Apartment complex keep me on the lease when I’ve left 4 months back?

housing

I moved out of my old apartment 4 months ago, and notified my unit by voicemail then that I was no longer occupying that unit. My old roommates notified me that my name is still on the lease. I brushed it off as it has not been uncommon for former residents names to appear on the web portal as co-residents (another old roommates name still appears to this day as a current co-resident). However, my current roommate has lost his job and is unable to prove he can afford 2.5x the rent. According to management, I am still on the lease and cannot be officially removed from the lease until he can prove to afford it. I don’t think it’s fair for me to be liable to a unit I haven’t occupied for this long and am going to be meeting with management alongside my former roommate to discuss this tomorrow. Is this legal, and/or what can I do to get my name removed?

Is there a path to suing a school for poor education and returning the degree for relief in debt?

school

For context: A friend of mine is in 100k debt and we have the same profession in which he has a degree and I don't - but it's extremely obvious my education throughout the years was not only better, what he was taught at his university (which is a pretty high end private one) is hot garbage. In most situations in life if you're sold a lemon there's a path to return. How can friend return degree in relief of debt for an 'informed decision' he made as a minor that turned out to be a blatant lie?

I got my first traffic ticket.

driving

Location: Michigan. [28F]. I got my first ticket yesterday. I'll admit I wasn't paying 100% attention. I had left work early because I was sick from a procedure done the day before. I was running close on time to pick up my daughter since I told my babysitter I was leaving work early. I was preparing to merge into a left turn lane (further back from the intersection than I should have) and ended up face to face with someone turning left from the opposite side of traffic. Naturally a cop was right there. I pulled over. I didn't fight him. He tells me what I did. I just wanted the interaction to be over. He asked for my license. I gave it to him. He comes back 10 minutes later with the ticket printed out and tells me I have no insurance. Claims up and down that he looked it up. Not to help my case I must have thrown away my new one and kept the old one. Now I'm having a panic attack because I am prone to them even over small things. I ask him to hold on so I can look at my phone. I was starting to white out and couldn't focus. I asked to call me husband and he said "Good luck" and stuffs the ticket in my hand... I checked when I got home. I do have insurance. The ticket is worth 2 points. Im trying to get a new job relevant to driving and I simply can't stand the idea of this hitting my record. Aside from trying to fight it in court with the cop, is there any other options? Can I request no points? I heard there's deferrals. I have had 0 tickets. I've never even been pulled over before. I had an accident last winter but it was declared not my fault. I'm totally distraught over this mundane thing. I just need some advice. Thanks all.

Copywrite and fair use?

digital

All the info I know about copywriting and fair use is from a “Sonic Says” thing. So I want to be an animator online and I want to make little animations of copy written characters. Would I be able to that or would I have to ask for permission from the owner of the character? Would I have to add it in a description? Serious question and I thought I could ask it here

[California] Mom wants to get a restraining order on dad. They both own the house, will he have to leave?

family

So on Monday my mom and dad got into an argument and were both in each other's faces, when he grabbed her phone and broke it. Later that evening he got intoxicated and tried to barge into my little sisters room [14] and beat up my mom. This is not the first time this has happened and there's been a history of domestic violence and my mom is ready to divorce. Neither my little sister or my mom feels safe in the house. My mom feels getting a restraining order will be useless because they both have their names on the title. What are her rights?

Gf skipped almost an entire year of school and is on probation when can she get off of it?

school

So my gf (18 years old) lives in Ohio and she skipped an entire year of school due to life issues last week was actually her first week of going and she Is now on probation and according to her it's random when she can get off of probation. So I'm wondering how true this is and if there she can do to get off of it asap?

Court date on citation appeared as 05/14/2016. I received a failure to appear in court notice showing the citation actually indicated my date was 03/14/2016.

driving

I have been issued a new court date and been informed I may pay by mail. However I have a few questions. * Is there any reason I shouldn't just pay the fine for nearly $200? * Would it have been less if I appeared at the correct date? * Do I have a leg to stand on with my poorly imprinted carbon copy? Alabama USA Edit: The charge is failure to adhere to the Move Over law.

Can my boss not pay us for the last hour of work?

employment

Me my girlfriend and our 2 co workers don’t get paid for the last hour where we close up shop. We are still punched in but they told us we don’t get paid. Why the hell not? Isn’t that illegal??

I’m my mother’s sole beneficiary. Dad trying to fight it in court.

wills

My parents got divorced in 2013 in Texas and decided to split their assets as equally. Due to poor work on their lawyers’ part, this whole process got messy and eventually delayed. Then 2016 roles around my dad was geared up to transfer his assets in the form of funds when my mom unfortunately passed away, putting me down as her sole beneficiary. This means that I am entitled to her estate, much of which was supposed to come from the property settlement— the transfer form of which is now void due to her death. Suddenly, my dad is now skewing the amount of funds he’s supposed to send. Even saying he only owes a third of the original agreed upon amount. Now the will Executor on my moms side of the family has gotten a lawyer and is trying to argue contract law as the basis of the original agreement. My dad has yielded somewhat but is now arguing deductions such as the tax burden he will get by taking out funds from a particular account. Are these arguments legitimate? Is there a way to speed up this process? It’s been two years and it’s still being argued back and forth between two considerably slow lawyers (who aren’t the original two who worked on the divorce settlement) and there’s a lot of speculation as to why my dads fighting so hard against it. What can I do?

(CA) Boyfriend accused of stealing customer's credit card. Was told he is being taken off the schedule while an investigation is underway.

employment

Boyfriend is a bartender, today after his shift he was told by his employer that a long time customer said someone at the bar stole his credit card after he forgot it on Tuesday. The thief then racked up $700 worth of charges (he has been compensated by his bank if that affects anything) at various stores with in-person transactions. Customer is adamant that the thief is my boyfriend as he was the only staff member working front of house at the bar that day. Work is taking him off the schedule until they can conduct a thorough investigation and when boyfriend asked them to please check the security footage they stalled him out and said they needed to make sure they 'have everything in order'. Until then he's not working indefinitely. Are they able to do this legally? If they fire him over hearsay is there any legal recourse? Times are a little tough right now with COVID and he just got back to work. I know CA is an at-will state which gives them free reign but accusing someone of stealing $700 is also something that can affect him attempting to get another job. Can he contact the police to clear his name or is the answer to the problem just 'look for another job'?

FL tenant refused to sign lease, moved in anyway

housing

A tenant refused to sign a lease and moved in anyway. Now they have declared they are only paying half rent because something trivial was broken for a few days. How quickly is it possible to get them out and a new tenant in? Another important detail is this tenant is a lawyer.

Neighbors are harassing and verbally threatening us

housing

Since we’ve moved into this apartment it has been nothing more than anxiety and fear of the next time the neighbors downstairs will harass us. My fiancé and I have tried to ignore it but the situation just keeps escalating to the point where I’m in constant paranoia and fear. To start from the beginning, we live in a 3 family apartment. It was the first apartment for my fiancé and I, so we were in love with it in the beginning. We moved in at the beginning of June of 2016. That’s when the nightmare gradually started. Now our landlord wasn’t and still isn’t the best. She makes up rules as she goes and doesn’t have any respect or regard for our personal property. And I’m guessing that’s how the previous tenants felt because the majority of them left with guns blazing. We weren’t satisfied either but the rent was cheap and being that this was our first apartment we wanted a good reference. At around November of 2017 the first floor neighbors moved in and that’s when the issues really started. It started out small. Example: The apartment building shares one central heating unit and our landlord informed all of the tenants that the heat should stay at 70 because the 3rd floor (our floor at the time) got very hot. You would think they would be courteous but they would turn the heat all the way to 90 degrees and we would wake up drenched in sweat. The whole winter it was an ongoing battle. Also, the 1st floor tenants smoke a lot of marijuana which would stink up the whole apartment complex. My fiancé and I smoked cigarettes but never inside. When our landlord visited and smelled the apartment complex they blamed the stench on us. We aren’t the confrontational type and as they say, pick and choose your battles. At around this time we started looking for apartments but didn’t have that much luck. We were stressed out because quite honestly we wanted to move. Our apartment was tiny, we wanted a new environment, but didn’t have much luck and we knew we might have to renew our lease. The second floor neighbors moved and we decided that if we were to renew the lease we might as well get a bigger apartment to which we did. We moved to the second floor apartment the last week of October of 2018. That is when the issues started to get serious. Here are the incidents listed below. Sunday October 28th 2018 We just moved into new apartment. Our landlord promised us a week to move but made us move in one day and threw all our things all over so it was impossible to walk anywhere. It was 11:00 pm and I was moving an item out of the way when I tripped on a loose tile in apartment and ended up falling. The neighbors on the first floor started banging on our floor and yelling threats at us from below. I messaged my landlord the next day in the afternoon and spoke to her on the phone later on that day to which she informed me she would deal with the situation. Monday December 3rd, 2018 12:05 am My dog was playing with her bone on the bed. She’s a three legged pup so she has a hard time gripping things. It dropped once on floor. I took it away immediately cause I wanted no issues. Right after I received this text from the neighbor stating: We are trying to sleep please be considerate with the noise we hear shit dropping over us. To which I responded with an apology. December 6th, 2018 I woke up around 3:25 am. I got up to use bathroom and to get a drink of water. Our fridge has an ice and water machine, which I used. I went back to bed to fall asleep. As soon as I got into bed heard a loud bang on our floor. Then yelling pursued. He threatened to “fuck us up”. He stated that we do nothing and that he’ll fuck bitches up too (referring to myself). He then proceeded to continue banging and yelling more threats. Calling me a black bitch and stating this is the last time that he’s to be waken up. “Let it happen one more time that fucking white motherfucker upstairs too gonna get it too”(my fiancé and I are an interracial couple). Then finally he went into hallway to which he said fuck everyone in the building and slammed the door. I have two recordings of these events. At this point everything lumped together has us wanting to break the lease or seek some legal help. I feel very unsafe in my apartment. It started very minimal and has now turned into something more serious. I know for a fact that we’re not noisy or boisterous and if my fiancé and I were we would definitely apologize. We don’t blast our music/television or yell. I have a feeling they’re just waiting for us to do anything so they can pounce. I don’t want to tiptoe around my apartment and be afraid to use a damn ice machine. I’m at a lost of what to do next. Please help!

How long must someone live in a home to be considered a tenant in Utah?

housing

I’m just interested in learning about this from seeing it in other threads. Also where would I look to find certain laws? I’m a little new to this

"Following too close" ticket advice

driving

Hey guys. I just got a ticket today for following a vehicle in front of me too close or "tailgating". Story: Driving down I-35 South in Texas. The speed limit is 75mph. I'm going that until my radar detector goes off detecting a Trooper who has someone pulled cover about a mile ahead of me. Moderate amount if traffic in road but they're going slower in the right lane so I'm continuing onward in the left lane at about 75. The troopers lights turn off and the person he pulled over drives off and the cop proceeds to speed up on to the highway. He was in-between exits so it's one situations of where all traffic has to adjust for his abrupt entrance. So everyone slows down to about 60 (15 mph under the speed limit). There is now a pickup truck in front of me, an 18 wheeler to the right of him, another pickup to the right of me, and the cop is behind the pickup to the right of me. Naturally, people slow down because they're scared of a police vehicle so traffic became slower and we were all grouped up together. The truck in front of me started speeding up more to get in front of the 18 wheeler and move into the right lane so I proceed to speed up with him. In this timeframe, I am averaging about 1 to 2 car lengths between the vehicle in front of me. Then before the truck in front of me even gets close to moving over, I see the lights and am forced to pull over. The rest is nothing special. The trooper claims I was a danger on the road and was too close to the truck in front of me. He said I would have had no time to react if he were to suddenly slam on his breaks so he's gonna give me a ticket. $190. The reason is "following too closely". He said there is no proof and it's all his opinion but he's still gonna have to fine me. I have a dashcam and have the whole thing recorded (no audio though). But I have all the driving recorded and that's what matters. I will upload it when I get home so y'all can see the whole thing play out. I wasn't an asshole to the cop and cooperated 100%. Think I can contest this and get it dismissed? I personally think I wasn't doing anything illegal and have the footage of this whole thing.

Can I be fired for refusing to get a COVID 19 vaccination?

employment

Don’t get me wrong, I want to be immunized for COVID 19, but personally I’d rather let everyone else be the guinea pig for me so I can be 100% sure it’s safe for me, but I also don’t want to get fired and starve

[NV] Am I personally responsible for damage to a vehicle that was my fault?

driving

So I got into an accident that was my fault. The damage was not that bad and we both traded insurance information. The person that I hit was actually driving a rental car. I have full insurance and this was the first ever accident that I was in. I thought my insurance company would handle it. A few months later I received a letter and a bill from the rental agency stating that my insurance did not cover everything and they want me to pay. Honestly, I ignored this letter. When this happened I was a broke college student and there was no way I could afford it. My question is, can I be held liable for whatever my insurance did not pay? If I am, can they sue me? If they do sue, how long after the accident can they still sue me?

Is it illegal to edit a video to make it longer?

contract

So I have a bit of a competition with my classmates to see who can do something for the longest or quickest time. Because we do them at different times we have someone record it and to see who wins. Each month we do a different challenge and put $100 down and the winner takes everything. Is it illegal to edit the video to give myself an advantage? Also if someone else is in the video, for instance if we jump on their back and do a rodeo kinda thing, can we get in trouble for recording them? This is in Tennessee and we are under 18.

Apartment flooding from unit above

housing

Over the course of a few years, my apartment would flood occasionally from the unit above. Insurance would cover the damages or the owner from the unit above would have his contractors fix what was damaged. Several months ago, my unit was flooded once again from the unit above mine. After contacting the owners from the unit above, they sent their technician to evaluate the situation. Upon examination, he implied that the damage was caused due to vandalism attempting to say that I intentionally flooded the apartment which would be impossible since the ceiling was caving in and there was water damage in multiple rooms. It seemed that the owner was saying that in order to avoid covering the cost of renovating the whole apartment. The whole place was covered in mold. The owner of the unit above refused to pay for the damages and HOA forced us to renovate in a given time. The cost of renovation was exponential since everything from the walls and ceilings to appliances needed to be replaced. I have documented everything and took pictures of all the damages. This was clearly caused by the unit above. Is there anything I can do legally? What kind of lawyer do I seek?

[NC] Im an idiot and got married a month ago. How do I get out of this ASAP?

family

I’ll spare you the details but I married someone and they drastically changed pretty much immediately thinking that I’m there’s forever now. We had a prenup (neither of us owns anything though so not a big deal). I just want to get out of this ASAP. Who do I talk to? Where do I start?

Help With A Character's Sentence For A Story

criminal

Hello! I'm writing a story and need some help with the fate of one of the characters. We have two characters, M and J, which are in a romantic relationship. M(female) is just finishing high school while J(male) is about 4-5 years older. Their relationship is abusive, as J often gets jealous and hits M. M never admits this to her family,etc. She wants to end the relationship but is afraid to tell J, fearing his reaction. M's visible bruises could be shown in court. A friend(male) of M stands up for her and gets beaten up by J and his friends, ending up in the hospital. M, furious, can't take it anymore and confronts J in the street. She pushes him and he, caught by surprise, loses his balance and falls, getting hit by an incoming car on his way down. He survives, but is in a coma and the doctors are very optimistic he will wake up. J's parents sue M. What's a realistic outcome for this? Would M get jail time? J also has a prior criminal record (stealing, fights) and is known to be affiliated with a racist group. ​ Thank you.

[CA] CHP Officer Hole-Punched Out-of-State License

driving

Hey all. I'm a student from NJ at a university in California. I shipped my car over here last week, since I feel more comfortable with my own vehicle with the pandemic. I was driving on US 101 N, passing someone in the left lane at about 80mph in a 70mph zone. CHP officer pulled me over, stating that I was going 90 in a 70. I was definitely at 80mph because I've gotten a few tickets in the past year and I don't feel like getting more. I'm thinking maybe he caught the person in front of me going a bit faster, but I'm not sure. I didn't argue because I was definitely speeding in the end, and I was hoping for some goodwill. Anyways, I have the name of my university on the back of my car. Cop asks me if I am a student at that university. I say yes. He then says that because I'm going to school here, I should have gotten a CA driver's license and registered my car here. I am aware that you must do this if you move to a new state, but I figured that my status is a bit different since I spend time here while at school, then go home to NJ during breaks. I spent the past 6 months in NJ as well due to online school. Plus most OOS people I know in college HAVE NOT gotten CA licenses. Officer cites me for speeding + UNLICENSED driver. I have a valid NJ license, but when he took it, he hole punched it and invalidated it. I informed him that my primary residence is in NJ and I only spend time here for school. I don't know why he had to invalidate my license. He also asked for my apt address in CA and said the summons will be mailed there. I am wondering if what he did was wrong. I don't want to get a CA license and registration right now, since I still spend a significant amount of time in NJ, plus I'm on my parents' auto insurance plan. I also feel like I shouldn't be forced into becoming a resident of another state if I am just here for education. If I get a job in a new state I don't want to switch everything over again. My NJ license is up for renewal, so I did that process as soon as I got home. I received an interim license and will get a new one in the mail. Hopefully I did not make this worse by doing so, but I feel like the cop was wrong about this. I've gotten pulled over twice before in CA, and neither cop mentioned anything about residency, despite my mentioning being a student here. Was the cop allowed to hole punch my NJ license? Do I have to go through the process of getting a CA license and registering my vehicle? Thanks for any advice.

My auto insurance only gives me a rental car for up to $900. However, the shop doing repairs said one of the parts currently isn't available ANYWHERE, and there is no ETA because of COVID-19 closing the factory that makes it.

insurance

Two weeks ago, I had a car accident. I was driving when a small tree-stump just *barely* snagged the plastic cover over my undercarriage, and doing so apparently did a *lot* of damage, instantly turning my car off. I was contacting yesterday and told that one of the best necessary for my car to run is some kind of computer part, "the brain" of my car as was explained to me. The problem is that the factor that builds this part has been shut down since the Coronavirus outbreak started, and my shop (which was picked out by Geico, not myself) said they contacted Ford and were told that the part is backordered with literally no ETA, that this part isn't available anywhere in the country. Also, the vehicle literally ***will not run*** without said part. So I can't just "have it replaced later". He said he literally has no idea when I might get the part. It could be next week, or it could be *months* from now. My Geico claims adjuster is saying that I only get a rental car for up to $900, which I *think* runs out by like the end of next week. I have a couple of questions: - Is there any way I can request a rental car to be provided until the repairs are actually finished? Is this something I should be willing to *fight* them on, assuming they try to get out of it? - Do I have a right to ask they simply "total" my car and reimburse me the value, so I can buy a different car? They already said I was really close to the cost of repairs outweighing the value of the car, and that was before this setback. - I'm currently paying my car loan and insurance still. If repairs go beyond a full month, would I be able to get out of either of these bills? - What *should* I be doing during this time? Like, if you guys were in my position, would steps would you be taking? There is a *slight* possibility my work will allow me to work from home until my car is fully repaired, but I have a feeling it would look back on me, because we are *just* transitioning to having people back into the office, and the company president doesn't like people working remotely.

I'm being charged for health insurance I didn't have (NC)

insurance

So I was recently eligible for benifits at my current job as of October 1st. I have never really had a consistent source of health insurance for the majority of my life so I was really excited about finally being able to get help I have needed for a while now. However from the very get go I ran into issues. For one I initially couldn't access my benifits enrollment because of a payroll processing firewall. So I waited till my first pay check of the month to process and hope the wall disappeared. However once I received my check the firewall was still in place almost a week after my check processed. I had to call the company help line and spoke to 2 different people before I could even see my options. I was finally able to enroll mid October. Low and behold shortly after I enrolled, I started to experience a mental health crisis and needed immediate attention. However I realized my digital benefits cards didn't have my member IDs so I couldn't actually use them. Through many distressful phone calls, and help from a very suportive boyfriend I eventually had to call my provider directly to get my ID number so I could get help and not be hit with a massive bill. Now to my REAL issue, I didn't pick the cheapest benifits package or the most expensive because I needed something to cover mental health (because of the afformemtioned mental health crisis' I am prone too) but not break the bank. All In all my total is suppose to be $170 per pay check. However upon my last paycheck I noticed over $340 had been taken. I did not realize this until yesterday. I tried to contact my employer but they said that since I was eligible on October 1st I had to pay the premium for the whole month, so I was double charged to make up for the first half of October. Needless to say I am more than upset by the whole ordeal and have sent 2 emails now to try and either be reimbursed for the first half of the month, or have my employer cover the cost since it was their screw ups that cost me a massive chunk of my paycheck. I'm having to dip into my savings just to cover my rent this month because I wasn't prepared to take that big of a hit from my pay check. It there anything I can do to try and get the money back or is my fate set in stone? (I live in North Carolina and the company that handles my payroll and benifits is a separate company from the one I work for)

Cat urine smell.

housing

In the state of massachucetts can any legal action be taken against a tenant who violates a verbal non pet agreement , I’ve personally disinfected and neutralized the whole basement , had a cleaning company come in and sanitize and deodorize the whole thing. What else can be done.

[PA] Mom/landlord going through our personal belongings.

housing

My boyfriend and I moved into a house owned by my mother approximately a month ago. Since then, we both feel that she has done a number of things that are an extreme invasion of our personal privacy and likely illegal. Some examples being: -Trying to help us unpack, even though we told her we would rather do that ourselves, and we told her we weren’t comfortable with her going through all of our things. - Spending extra time at our house after doing necessary/routine maintenance. At first we thought it was just “empty nest syndrome” since I’m the oldest child and will be the first to move out. -Doing things that are not a landlord’s responsibility, such as loading the dishwasher or putting laundry in the wash. Again, because she’s my mom, we assumed she was just trying to be helpful, but at this point we did express that we were uncomfortable with her doing things like that. -More recently (specifically yesterday, which lead me to make this post) she went through my purse while I was sleeping in bed with the flu and tried to use things she found in it as blackmail against me to my boyfriend. So my questions are, what if any of this is actually illegal? Could this be considered a violation of our lease? If we were to move out before the lease ends, could this be used to prevent us from having to pay the remainder of the rent for the term of the lease? And though we would REALLY rather not take this route since it is my mom, at what point should we consider taking legal action? Thanks in advance!

Can a Meal Break be Forced by my Employer?

employment

I live in California and my employer just issued out to everybody that anyone who works 5 hours MUST take their meal break. They have no exceptions listed and zero tolerance policy regarding this. My question like the title, can my employer do this? I know under California labor laws that any employee working 5 hours or more is entitled to a meal break, but my biggest concern is whether or not that can legally do this. Most of it makes sense that we should be taking breaks but some people only work 5 hours. I've had some co-workers ask why the company is taking away 30 min worth of pay without a reason other than the changes were effective immediately. Thanks in advance. (Sorry if the tag was incorrect)

AKITA APARTMENT DOG DRAMA - DO I HAVE A CASE?? Please help 🐶

housing

Hi there! In need of some apartment/legal advice for my 1 year old Akita, Koa. PLEASE read I know it’s long but a short summary at the end. I’ll try to make the story short: Koa is overall a great dog for being an “aggressive breed”. He’s a little weary of dogs but since we’ve moved into this new townhomes unit he’s made so many friends at the dog park! Small, large, male, female - he’s Played with them all! (Lucky for me I have video evidence of this). About 1.5 months ago me and Koa were walking from the dog park (owned by townhomes). There are 2 small (chihuahua sized) dogs who HATE Koa. They bark, snarl, growl when they see him and Koa just stares at them. I’ve totally avoided them and walk the other way. On this particular day, we are walking and I turn around and these two dogs are off leash running for me and Koa. Koa is definitely not ok with this. I managed to mitigate the situation by holding back Koa and pushing them away from him. This isn’t for my dogs safety but for them! The owner comes running and puffing behind them apologizing. Yeah yeah yeah just know if our dogs get into it Koa will be ok and yours won’t. Fast forward to 2 weeks ago. Koa is playing with 3 friends. Totally enjoying himself and having fun. I can see this guy and his 2 small dogs walk up to the dog park as well. I instantly felt like I should leave the dog park because his dogs hate mine. But I didn’t have time before he had brought them in. The dogs were already growling/snarling etc and he was telling them to calm down/stop. Whatever. Koa was fine with them for about 5 mins. Things were ok. Until one of the little dogs snipped at Koas face. Fight on. It lasted about 7 seconds but a 90lb v 10lb animal is sure to be ugly. The guy grabbed Koas neck in the midst of the fight and Koa obviously got him on the hand. The bite was small - maybe the size of the tip of a marker. Fight ended and the small dog turns out to be ok but “shaken” and a little beat up. Koas only crime - winning the fight the other dog started. Well - turns out apartments got wind of the incident from this guy. Didn’t even ask for my side or conduct an investigation before making the determination that I had 24-hours to remove Koa from my place. Said because he showed “aggression”. I am lucky my parents were driving 13 hrs already to visit me. They have since taken Koa back home while I fight this. Here are some of my arguments. Do you think I have a case?: -The dog park sign states to “use at your own risk”. Additionally, it says if your dog gets aggressive you should leave the park immediately. He knew we were there and still chose to walk in with the two dogs who were already on edge with Koa! -In the lease - they make it sound like they have NOTHING to do with the dog park. Whatever happens there happens. I’ll post a picture of that but can anyone (apartment managers?) maybe help me decipher?? -The dog park is NOT monitored at all! No cameras. Nothing. This is all entirely hear-say. -He knew the risk of entering the dog park from the first incident (which I could’ve reported him for!) where his dogs RAN up to mine off leash and aggressive. Koa spared them that day. - This isnt as black and white as my dog escaped from my house and bit neighbors and dogs. Koas very friendly with people and just needs proper introduction to new dogs. Additionally, since I’ve gotten documents with the owners name I’ve looked him up. He’s actual being charged with a felon - aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Shot at 2 people. The lease states that if you are charged with a felon you may be removed in 24 hours. Does the apartments know about this?! I feel like he shouldn’t even be a resident and this would’ve never happened. If they do - how have they determined my dog a bigger “threat” to the community than him!??? Where is the justification? I hate to be that person but it’s totally unfair! I need any help! Legal, experience, just good old fashion advice? I don’t want to spend 6,000 to break the lease that’s not up until March 2020!!! Even if the lease would let me terminate it at no cost I’d be fine with that! I just want my dog back with me. Please help!!!! Thank you

Fickle attendance policy (WI)

employment

I have recently, within the last 4 months, packed up and moved cross country. I started a job in a small mom and pop shop and have been working there for roughly 3 months. Moving to the new area and also never really having a strong immune system I've been getting pretty sick frequently. I have had to call out maybe once a month. The first sickness after moving was bad enough that i did go to the doctor's. I was told that it is fairly common for big moves to increase the likelihood of illness for a while as i grow accustomed to the new bacteria and allergens around my new environment. I showed all of this to my boss, he seemed cool about it. The next time i got sick enough to call in I communicated early enough with my boss and it was no big deal, but he mentioned (in writing) that because there were a lot of sick calls recently that if we miss more than 2 days we must have a doctors slip. Now flash forward to mid October we are just reaching flu season and I am suffering. I called in sick last week and was told via email that "since everyone is sick, if you do not show up and do not have a doctors note it is a write up". I am not too worried about the write up, while it is early enough in my employment history that it is a hassle. It is my first. What I am worried about is the policy. These rules that my boss rattles off at us aren't listed in the store anywhere. There is no avenue to study the rules before hand we only find out about rules when there are mistakes. But, worse still, it feels like my boss just up and changes the rules whenever it is convenient for him. The job that I have does not offer an insurance plan, so forcing people to visit the doctor any time they call in sick is a HUGE expense. Not to mention physical health is not the sole reason that someone may want to call out for a day, death of a relative, cannot find a babysitter, etc. My job is by no means bad and I may be paranoid but I am looking for key things that i should keep track of to protect myself from a potentially power mad draconian boss. other potentially useful information: My boss is not the "pop" in mom and pop. He is a younger guy that has worked at the store since it opened, 6 years ago. From my outside perspective he is incredibly over worked and under paid. Stressed out all the time managing a store from both front end and back end. [An additional semi-related question. I was directly hired by the pop at 40 hours a week. Two weeks after I started working my hours were cut by my current boss to 28 per week. There was no communication to signify if i had done anything wrong. I then talked to my boss who said things have just gotten slower around this time of year and so hours were cut from the newest person. Not an ideal situation but it certainly sounded reasonable to me. Unfortunately a week later a brand new hire showed up, hired personally by my boss and has been working 40 hours a week since. They know each other personally and it seems like I was sidelined from my 40 hours a week due to nepotism. Virtually none of this is in writing just word of mouth. Is there anything that could be done? ] And yes, I am looking for a different job.

If I report a rape that happened years ago will I have to stand trial or can it just be on record? [MA]

criminal

So in my state of Massachusetts you can report a rape up to 16 years I was told. I was pretty brutally assaulted by an ex and so were a few of my friends I found out afterwards. My mother favored him unfortunately, so I didn’t report it then for that reason (I was 13) I just want it on record incase he does it again and someone reports it. I called RAINN and they were very kind but said they weren’t sure and couldn’t help me with that. I’m really nervous but with all of these #MeToo going around I feel like I should report it because of just the physical pain/bleeding alone he caused me so many times and the bruises kneeling on my arms. Never mind the mental pain, I never want anyone else to go through what he did to me and my friends. I don’t really want to stand trial but I will if I have to. **Will I have to stand trial if I report a rape that happened 10 years ago? Or can it just be on record?**

Self filed divorce for deported spouse (US, TN-KY)

family

I've been in the process of trying to divorce my spouse who was deported back to Mexico in January due to a DUI they did before we got married. More or less, I eloped after my mental illness flared, my grandmother passed, work issues etc and long story short we left eachother in two months. I tried to divorce them immediately but my original lawyer passed from a sudden and critical onset of cancer, then them being deported, then me moving to a different state, all of this in the midst of Covid 19. I've been looking at the self filed divorce forms here in Kentucky (married in Tennessee) and it requires their social and address. The problem is, they had a fake social and a visa number (w9?), they went by two different names, and they no longer live in the country. I can't contact them because we have ourselves mutually blocked on social medias, and their phone number is international so I can't pick up random calls from them/text back. We have no mutually bought items, I make under $28k/yr, no kids etc. tl;dr: Kentucky, USA filed divorce from a marriage made in Tennessee, and spouse deported to Mexico for committing a crime. What do I fill out for my separated spouse's social security/address if I don't know any of them? What name do I use if they've gone by a few names? I don't have the marriage license on my hands, I can't retrieve any information from my separated spouse because I have no means of contact with them. Do I use a process server at the county court to send the motion for divorce?

[NJ] Business location to form single member LLC

business

I run a blog that's about a year old. I'm starting to get some decent traffic and I've taken steps to monetize it. At this point I'm getting involved with some other companies and I'd like to protect myself by forming a single-member LLC (which I probably should have done when I started). My issue is that I live in a condominium, and the HOA bylaws prevent me from running a home-based business. Although my business is 100% online and digital (I could run it from a coffee shop), I believe I'd have an issue using my home as my business address. Also my understanding from the [NJ business application form] (http://www.nj.gov/treasury/revenue/forms/njreg.pdf) is that you cannot use a PO box for the business location, just the mailing address. It's also my understanding that you cannot use a registered agent as your business location. Please correct me if I'm wrong! Short of spending money I can't spare to rent a physical location, what are my options? I have a friend who owns a house in NJ...if I had their permission, could I use that as a business location, or would that be considered fraud (or have any other ramifications for them or me)? I would like to do things the "right way" but can't quite figure out how to accomplish that without renting a physical business location I don't need and can't really afford.

Can Child Support Go Up if Domestic Abuse with The Other Parent?

family

So my mom got a divorce with my dad because he hit my sister and I (well he climbed on top of me and started beating the shit out of a 12 yo, when my sister came up and tried to help) Since then he’s hit us and left us in Canada, and his family told us not to call the police. We don’t have any proof of that so we just decided to stop seeing him. I recently found out he married my best friends mother, and when I got pissed and texted him in anger, he started making a bunch of vague threats like, “You’ll see. You’re gonna get what’s coming, you and your mother are both stupid cows.” Yada yada yada. He’s currently only paying $200 a month for me and my sister. He’s a truck driver and runs his own business, so he forged papers saying he makes a hell of a lot less than he says he does. So if he does fuck with us, can we go after him for more child support?

How does one make a contract enforceable?

contract

Say if im dealing with an individual who is known for never paying for his part in agreements. If such an individual were to sign a contract (made by me) that states that he has to pay said amount by said date in order to receive a service, would he be forced to pay it? Is that how they work, that if you sign into a contract, you will have to fulfill its terms? Thank you in advance.

Employer trying to change signed & approved contract stock terms as 'typos'

contract

I signed a contract for vesting restricted stock + salary with a startup company while it was small, and it was approved by the companies board in a seperate document the following month. Since then they have started becoming successful and hired many new people. Later in the year after my hire they backtracked saying both signed documents were a mistake and that i was meant to get stock options instead. This wasnt communicated to me in any direct manner or official transmittal, but rather i got an email asking me to visit one of the vp's for a chat. This guy slid a hard copy of a document already signed by him stating that some 'typos' in my contract needed to be corrected and that i acknowledged and approved it, told me it was 'nothing much' and to 'just sign it, its a formality with no real effect'. I wasnt given much of an explanation and documentation was vague. I started asking questions about it and the vp got very flustered which seemed strange to me, so i refused to sign and told them i wouldn't until i understood the implications clearly. I was visited and pressured to sign several times a day that week by that vp. Eventually i wrote an email directly to the ceo and explained the situation. He rang me almost immediately, and also talked to me several times stating he had no knowledge of the situation, that he couldnt give legal advice, but that he thought changing to options was my best choice. What options are available to me here, and what might be the implications of this change for both them and me?

Dealing a dismissed case in RI

criminal

My case was dismissed and I’d like it sealed and gone so I can continue with jobs and education ASAP. How do I do this and how quickly can it be done?

Making someone pay for access to somebody else's free app?

digital

Hi, I wanted to find out whether it could be legal for some one to charge other person for access to an application (that was not created by the "seller" but by somebody else) that is available on the internet for free (the original owner does not charge money for it)?

Amazon Affiliate Site and Disclaimers

digital

If I write an article about something that could be potentially dangerous (in this case swords) but the products I am reviewing/recommending are all sold through Amazon (i.e. I myself am not producing or selling anything) is there anything I have to worry about legally in terms of disclaimers and such? I do also make some jokes about the reader of the article using the swords and such. Also are there any disclaimers I need to add for other products like electronics or furniture and such or since everything I am recommending is sold by another company do I not need any disclaimers.

Bizarre Traffic Ticket (New Orleans)

driving

I pulled into a DUI checkpoint one night and ran through the normal checks... license, registration, etc. I provided all of the information to him and he had an issue with the sticker from the registration not being placed on the license plate. He asked me to place it there in front of him, so I did. All of the dates are clearly defined that the registration is valid, along with the license place. He proceeds to write me a ticket... I didn't really question what it was for, I was just ready to get home. After it posted and I saw the charges there were 3 separate charges listed. A charge for expired license plate, expired registration, and windshield required? There is a small crack in the passengers side of the windshield, nothing in view of the driver. I'm fighting the ticket now. What are my options/chances?

Landlord screwing us over?

housing

Me and my two other roommates rent a house in California. We were given 30 day notice to move out, however our landlord has already started renovating the property without any notice over multiple days. He, his wife, kids, and contractors are on the grounds moving some of their furniture out, replacing the backyard fence, walking by all the windows of the house, and discussing future construction while inspecting the place. The work is done during the day but also on the weekend. While they have not entered the actual house very recently, they have been in the house in the past without notice to enter and I have let those instances slide. The landlord also runs a shop out of the three-car garage for the entirety of my lease: loud work that is loud even from the living room. One of my roommate has been given an earlier move out date than me and the other roommate, and I am worried the landlord will think it's OK to work in his room earlier than I move out at the later date. How much does this violate "quiet enjoyment" of the property? What other ways does this violate California law? How much should I ask in reduced rent? Should I talk to a lawyer if they deny lowered rent?

Can I accept this “work from home” job?

employment

I have recently got a job with a company based in California. It looks like it it a respectable company. The problem (in my opinion) is that I’m am not a US citizen. I told the manager about this and he said “this is a remote work from home job”. The document said something like if I’m hired I won’t be an independent contractor but a full-time employee. Should I accept this job? Is this like working for YouTube, where you get paid from a US company no matter where you are?

(FL) Fender bender leads to careless driving ticket

driving

Got into an accident earlier tonight when the car in front of me slammed on their breaks to avoid rear-ending the person in front of them. Unfortunately, I couldn't stop fast enough and rear-ended them. My car has some pretty decent damage but because mine was lower than hers, her car has little to no damage and does not want to go through insurance for her minor scratches. However, she called the police immediately and after the report was filed, and numerous times of the woman telling the officer that the accident was not my fault, he wrote me a citation for careless driving. I'm not sure if this is worth going to court over and any advice is appreciated.

My Wife Think She May Be in Danger of Losing Her Job

contract

My wife works as a first year teacher at a small private school. She signed a one year contract with the owners of the school to be paid through summer. There have been many problems throughout the school year so far and issues she has had with her bosses (the owners). They have repeatedly asked her to perform actions outside of the specifications of her contracted job, and for other reasons have made her work very difficult and stressful. She has brought up grievances with them throughout the year, but nothing has gotten any better for her. Complaints have been brushed off and all feedback about her performance when she asks for it has either been negative and/or conflicting with previous information given. She had a long, emotional meeting with them last week and aired everything out to them about why they have made her job and life difficult. In this meeting they insulted her education and intelligence and her worth, and she was told she was wrong about everything and had a negative attitude. This morning the called her in for another meeting and tried repeatedly to let her quit (assuming so they didn’t have to pay her unemployment or the balance of her contracted salary?). She really enjoys the basic functions of her job and her students and our son attends the school, so she doesn’t want to quit, she only wanted things to get better. Does she need to talk to a lawyer in case they try to screw her out or the rest of her contracted salary? Can she negotiate a way to buy her out for a reduced rate? She would prefer to finish out the school year and have her and the owners just stay out of each other’s hair, but what should she do to prepared herself Incase she is let go before her contract is fulfilled?

[CO] Roomate has a bad dog. How do I get out?

housing

Roomate has a dog which is on the lease and permitted. The roomie’s dog destroys things, particularly windows and doors. My bedroom door has been broken more often than not. Dog also barks, has anxiety and throws up frequently. I am expected to help with the dog (happy to do so) but I can’t sleep, I have to keep everything locked down, and literally barricade my door. Does this sound like a possible reason to break a lease?

How do I go about finding a lawyer

family

The lawyer isn’t for me but for my mother. She has finally worked up the courage to divorce my monster of a father but I want to make this process as easy for her as possible so can someone please walk me through the process and give me some advice.

Can University Police remove someone from an apartment if there is no immediate danger?

school

Hi, long-time lurker, first time poster! If the flair is wrong I am sorry. Okay, these past few months my roommate has been hanging out with her ex-boyfriend. They hang out mainly because she needs someone to talk to and he wants to be there for her. They just didn’t work out as a couple. Another roommate was really uncomfortable about this and told the ex-boyfriend to stop coming over or she would call university police on him. That was a really crappy thing to do in my opinion because he is not an aggressive person. He has never been there without at least one person wanting him there and he has never done anything to make us feel endangered. My question is, would the university police do anything if they were called? Especially if he’s not being a danger and most people don’t care that he’s there? Location: Louisiana

Is my friend going to have to pay for this car accident?

insurance

So my friend was in this accident where she was turning left and someone hit her back end. We’re pretty sure she is at fault, but where some confusion lies is in if she will have to pay for the other car. The driver of the car is not a licensed or insured driver and it was not his car, it was his girlfriend’s. She said the car is insured, but if he is not a licensed driver and is not insured, how can this be covered by the insurance? If she tries to come to my friend saying that she has to pay for the damages, should my friend just ignore it?

Payroll Deduction.

employment

Looking for any insight. Started a new job, with a growing company. I interviewed and recieved my job offer at their original offices and started training at their new site. The new site was still under construction and procedures not yet solidified. At the original location if an employee forgets thier badge they are issued a temporary badge for the day. Due to the new site being setup there was a new badge system also. It was not discovered until trainees forgot badges that the new system does not allow temp badges. I forgot mine was told no fee to replace due to newness and no procedure. As training and construction went on we received verbal notices that if needed a replacement would be $15, then announced verbally again $10. Finally recieved an email with a finalized policy all badges 10$ if replaced. After this I forgot my badge, so instead of getting attendance points I signed to agree to a payroll deduction for 10$, but now I have been deducted twice without consent or notification. Is this allowed? Not concerned with the money, more concerned about not being notified and not giving consent. location is Oklahoma

[Ohio] Is the act of hiring 'consideration' for a non-compete agreement?

contract

Under Ohio law, *continued* employment [counts as consideration in a non-competition agreement](http://www.frostbrowntodd.com/resources-In_Ohio_Continuing_Employment_Is_Sufficient_Consideration_To_Enforce_A_Non-Competition_Agreement_03-19-2004.html). If you sign a non-compete agreement while you're already employed, with nothing else offered to you except "another day on the job", the agreement is considered valid and enforceable. However, when I was hired, I signed a non-competition agreement that offers *the act of hiring itself* as the benefit: > NOW THEREFORE in consideration of the mutual benefits and premises made herein, > the hiring of the Employee by [company], as well as the wage paid from time to > time for the employee's services, [company] and the Employee agree with each > other as follows: Is this enough consideration for the agreement to be valid?

(WA) My mom is being shady about the money I’m getting from my dad’s social security.

family

Not going to lie, I don’t know much about this. I am a sophomore in high school and back in 8th grade my father got laid off from his job and now he is collecting social security. We found this thing that allowed my sister and I to get some social security as well because we are still in high school. Because my mother has custody over me, the government sends the money to her and it is her responsibility to spread it out between us to put into different accounts. I am receiving $959 a month altogether. $500 goes to a 529 account $100 goes to spending money $359 goes to I don’t know I was under the impression that my mother was putting the $359 in a savings account for us. I started thinking about how I wasn’t planning on going to college and that I’d rather have the $500 go into a savings instead of a 529 because I was planning on joining the military after high school. I talked to my mom about it today and she was kind of cryptic about the $359. I got suspicious and asked her where it was going every month and she kept giving unclear answers. She started showing me an account with about $3,000 in it, but it didn’t make sense because we have been getting the social security monthly for about 11 months (10/06/17 is when it started). I thought it was odd how she couldn’t show me where the $359 was going every month, but I know she has to give a report to the social security guys to show where all the money has been going to. What can happen if the report doesn’t add up, and is there any way I can have my dad be in-charge of the money even though he doesn’t have custody over me?

My teacher is trying to force people to turn on there camera in class

school

The teacher is making kids lose points each time they don’t put on their camera. I am i’m not comfortable putting on my camera but she is trying to force everyone to do it. What exactly do I have to do.

Red Underglow legal or illegal?

driving

I live in Ohio, Muskingum County. I have looked for where it would be not allowed but haven’t found anything useful. I know that you cannot have any flashing lights and cannot be over 300 candlelights (no idea how to measure that) but would I be able to run just pure red underglow, no flashing or anything and be fine without getting a ticket?

Legal advice regarding tenant laws

housing

I was living in Mississippi and had paid a security deposit for an apartment and since I had bad credit, my father co-signed (I'm in my 20s). I have a service animal and had provided the proper documentation. My landlord didn't like the breed of my dog from the start and made lots of comments about her even after I provided paperwork for my service animal. When I moved out, my landowner sent me a handwritten letter, not an actual invoice, saying there were urine stains in the carpet in the bedroom (the only area with carpet). We didn't allow my service animal in the bedroom as she sheds a lot so there is no way my dog could've peed on that floor. The landlord said the carpet had to be replaced. I was under the assumption that an invoice would be sent and next thing I know, without any court summons, I have an account in collections. I called the landlord and said that I needed proof of the damages in order to consider paying it. I wanted photos of the carpet before I moved in and after and today she sent me random photos of carpet with pee stains and said she was going to sue my father since he was the cosigner and I was refusing to pay. At this point, Im willing to pay since I don't want my father to suffer. He's old and very poor. What are the ethical and legal implications of what the landlord is doing? Can this stand in court? I don't have a problem paying if there is proof but I am very unsatisfied with the lack of professionalism and what appears to be sleezy tactics to get the carpet replaced in an old apartment. Looking for any advice or suggestions on how to handle this situation.

If my landlord is charging me for owning a restricted item but has no evidence other than their word against mine do I have to pay the fine?

housing

I own a small grill and take it outside to grill occasionally and this time left it out overnight and my landlord saw it while I was not home I am assuming. The next day I get a letter saying I owe $150 for having the grill, which is in violation of the lease contract. This is also after an initial warning. I understand I am wrong here but there are 50 identical apartments to my own and there is no relationship with myself and the landlord. I am just wondering if I can say they made a mistake if they have no photo evidence? [New York] edit: Also the charge was 3 $50 fines to myself and 2 other roommates. Are my roommates responsible for these charges as they were not even involved? If I do pay the fine can get them to drop the charges from my roommates if I take full responsibility?

Can a lease have "morality clauses" and can I be denied for "non Christian morals"?

housing

I was recently evicted from my home unjustly, I plan to deal with that later but I need a house ASAP. I applied to a house with 3 other guys, decent rent, bad neighborhood but was affordable. I meet with the landlord and was going over the lease and it had a "morality clause" it was extensive and extremely conservative. In it was "no smoking" "no drinking" "no drugs" "no blasphemy" "no sex outside traditional marriage" "no non Christian music" "no non Christian tv" "no pornography" "no video games" "no non Christian books" "no tattoos" "no piercing" "no immoral jobs" "no females unless married" "no leftist discussion" and said he would know I did and would be immediately evicted it I did anything in that list. I told him that it's extremely over reaching and imposing his beliefs on others is discriminatory, he asked my religion and I told him I was an atheist, he told me that we would be in touch and he would consider renting if I changed my heathen ways. Is this legal? I'm in South Carolina, USA.

Traffic Cone

driving

So very near to where I work, today there was a very large event going on, and a couple thousand showed up for it, and as a result, just about every parking lot surrounding was closed off to a fine. Since security knows me and my colleagues work there, they let us in, but on the way out from work, every single exit was closed off by cones, there wasn’t a single way to get out. Instead of looking to find security, me and my colleague (Who I was giving a ride to) hopped out and moved one of the cones so that we could squeeze through and get out of there. Is this something either of us could get in legal trouble for, or would it be no big deal? Thanks!

Emotional Support Animals and Retaliation by Landlords

housing

I live in Madison WI. I've lived in the same apartment since Jan 2013, and I pay my rent on time every month. I recently asked my management company if dogs are allowed in my apartment. After waiting a week for my answer (but that's besides the point), the person from the management company said that dogs were not allowed after she checked with the owner. My lease says nothing about pets, so that's not very helpful. I'm thinking of getting an emotional support animal, since I have a lot of problems with depression and stress, and my psychiatrist would most likely be on board with this. I'm concerned that my leasing company will try to retaliate in some way, by either not allowing me to renew my lease next August, or by trying to find some way to evict me. Has this ever happened to anyone? Are my fears not legitimate? Thanks for any help you guys can offer!

Help! (First traffic offense)

driving

Hi all I received my first traffic ticket after 7 years of driving for failing to stop at a flashing red light and was wondering if I have a reason to go to court and contest/ask for leniency. The backstory: I was volunteering at a University of California as a research supervisor during the summer and drove back home during the weekends. The drive is 2 hours long, but often takes much longer with traffic. I usually would drop my coworker off at his place along the way. On the final day of our employment we had presentations from all participating groups the entire day; I was a little tired. My coworker was hitching a ride as usual. As I exited the highway ramp to get to his place, the car ahead of me slowed down and then accelerated through the traffic light. After the long day and drive, and since the car in front of me hadn't stopped, I somehow failed to process that the traffic light was flashing red. A police motorcycle came out of the shadows and I ended up getting stopped at a road block ahead. The car in front was only stopped momentarily, but they ended up pulling me to the side and gave me a citation for not stopping at the traffic light. The fine is a steep $469.00 (not including the service fee of $23.45). Is this normal for a first offense? I'm an international student funding myself through college in California. I'm wondering if I should just swallow the fine and take it as an unfortunate event, or do I have a chance trying to contest/ask for leniency at traffic court. Is there anything I can do?

My ex employer won't pay me

employment

My employer bounced my final payroll check ( they sold the business). I worked for a restaurant, and we had to close because of covid as well as a pending sale. After the check bounced I emailed the accountant back and forth for about a month. They were supposed to move money into the payroll account from ongoing ventures of theirs ( Restaurant is owned by a property investment group). For the past 2 weeks they have been completely silent on the matter and no longer replay to my E-mails. My question is what legal recourse do I have. The sale of this particular business will be complete by mid January. Due to that I don't think a complaint to the labor board will work due to the fact that the business will no longer exist by the time the matter is adjudicated. Any answers are greatly appreciated.

[Dupage County, IL] Wife's employer made her do quarantine three times in the last 8 months, she didn't claim for unemployment due to HR told her she is still an employee.

employment

Hello, Just as the title said. My wife works in a retirement home as a Nursing Assistant. From March 2019 till this month, she had to do 3 quarantine. Each quarantine period was 2-week longs. So basically she didn't receive any salary during that time and she didn't collect any unemployment because according to her HR she is still employed. * First Quarantine, end of march 2020. She tested positive and had to stay home * Second Quarantine, 01-September 2020. She took a personal day off due to feeling unwell and they told her to stay home for 2 weeks even after she tested negative. * The third Quarantine started on the 5th of January because of a family emergency and still going on (and they are still not letting her come to work). My question is can I collect unemployment for the previous quarantine. What should we do, it's 6-7 weeks worth of not getting paid? The unemployment helpline is useless, we tried to get hold of somebody to help us but no one is answering.

Can someone please explain ‘Incorporate and merge’?

family

I’m currently going through a divorce in Mass and unfortunately our joint petition alongside separation agreement is continuously getting rejected with different issues each time. One of which is our failure to select either: -Incorporate and merge the agreement executed by both parties OR -Incorporate but not merge said agreement which shall survive and remain as an independent contract. We just simply want to get this divorce over with and want nothing from each other as we share no assets or property. Can someone please explain this and perhaps suggest the best route? I understand I can’t use this to determine but input would be appreciated

I just found out from the city that I'm being charged illegally for electricity in the duplex I'm in. Do I have a case to sue? Would it even be worth it?

housing

This is in Wisconsin and I found out about this almost a year ago and the landlord is refusing to fix it. Anyway I live in a side by side duplex with a detached garage. The power company was out doing some work on our meter and when they cut the power to my side of the duplex to fix something we found out that we have been paying for all of the electric in what is supposed to be a shared garage for almost 6 years. The power guy verified that it's run to our portion of the unit directly. The garage is a communal space that is completely taken up by the neighbor. Even if we wanted to put stuff out there we couldn't because it's literally full of the neighbors stuff. In the summer the neighbor sits out there day and night running a TV a full size fridge a chest freezer a microwave and all of his power tools all on my dime. He even sleeps out there in a recliner running a tv all night. He's out there so much that our electric bill actually goes UP in summer even tho we have electric heat. It's like paying for a whole other house. I called the city and they told me communal spaces must have a separate meter or be paid by the landlord and included in rent. We have been paying this and this has been ongoing for almost 6 years. I brought it up to the landlord and his response was "I have a ton of money to throw at a lawyer do you?" Well it just so happens I just came into alot of money and I don't like being taken advantage of because this guy thinks I don't have the funds to do anything about it. I have a consultation with a lawyer in a couple days but I'm curious to know if it's even worth paying a lawyer to take this to court, and what are some questions I should ask the lawyer?

(Ontario, Canada) Are there any laws regarding how much can I load my pick up truck?

driving

Whenever we have any thing that is hanging out a little bit off the bed my dad thinks that it is illegal and we could get pulled over for it, is there a specific law regarding maximum loads in pick up trucks?

Question: No injury, no damage still filed a police report, what are the odds my insurance rate goes up?

insurance

For reference I drive a 2004 Nissan Sentra, I was pulling up to a stop sign with another vehicle with very dim / almost no serviceable lights. signaled to the right and as I was inching forward to make the second stop my car accidentally hit the back (love tap) of the car (it’s a bus) anyways, I stayed exchange information, officer says no damage no injuries should be good to go, I’m well aware of the accident being on my license which is fine. What I am concerned about is to what extent will my insurance rate go up? Does it go up if they file a claim? For reference, I’ve never been in an accident.

Can public universities punish you for getting in trouble outside of school?

school

I live in NJ, USA and am wondering if public universities are allowed to punish students for legal trouble outside of school? I got a ticket at my off private residence for a noise complaint (wasn’t even too loud and was only 30 minutes past the time they can enforce) and somehow my school found out immediately and contacted me about disciplinary action. On top of that I still have to go to court and pay a ticket for $400. Is it legal for my school to discipline me on something that frankly isn’t their business? What if I take it to trial and am found not guilty? Can they still discipline me as my meeting with the deans for my “sentencing” with the dean is before a trial date if I were to plea not guilty?

PA online gambling

digital

In PA I believe that online gambling licenses are available, if not then no need to read the rest. I'm a web/app developer and I have been requested my several people to develop an app where people can bet on the weather (where I live forecasting is extremely difficult). Now I can make it free with no actual cash however I was wondering what the legal process may be to get a license. Once again it's a long shot and I have no idea what to even look for. TIA

Making social media - how do we cover our asses legally?

digital

I don't wants the FBI knocking down my door and my ISP cutting off my internet and my server host banning me because I removed a video someone uploaded of illegal shit. How do I make sure things like this don't happen? (For details, the host is DigitalOcean.)

Terminated myself due to MAJOR lack of communication as far as payment goes and job prior to that one gave me inadequate PPE and caused me to burn my hands through my gloves. What can I do about all of it?

employment

So I worked for a factory for a couple of weeks. There, I did two different jobs for two different departments though I was technically only in one of those departments(Found out from a manual.). No big deal. I go to drop off my direct deposit information to HR. Wednesday before payday that Friday the guy said he would be around to get it but never came back. I sat it on his desk and left. Well Friday arrives and the money isn't in my account. I called during office hours 20 TIMES and no one picked up(Later figured out they were having a party that day in the office during office hours.). So I told called into the absentee line and simply resigned and told them why (no payment.). My now ex boss calls halfway through the shift and said HR dropped off a paper check for me. No one ever told me that HR would drop off any sort of check ever. So basically I quit due to lack of communication. What can I do about this? The whole place reeked of unprofessional conduct and incompetence. My boss SLEPT at his desk! Now we get to my former job. It's as simple as it reads. They gave me inadequate PPE and I ended up burning my hands to the point where I burnt my hands. I quit them too. I had NITRILE welded onto my skin. Now I can hardly feel anything in my hands after they recovered. I documented pictures. What can I do about this?

Recouping utility costs from apartment due to faulty doors [MI]

housing

I'm looking to get a little more information on our options for handling this situation, hoping you guys can provide some guidance. I live with 2 roommates in an apartment in Michigan. It was built in the 70s to my knowledge. Starting this summer (2014) we noticed the screen door on our doorwall/sliding glass door to our balcony was not sealing properly. There was a noticeable gap on the side, toward the top. It looked like the screen was leaning. We contacted management who came and replaced the screen. As the summer went on, we noticed the actual glass locking door was also crooked. Due to having our air conditioning on, and the door looking like it wasn't sealing, we contacted management to ask about it. They sent someone out to look at it. However, they sent someone during the week when all of us were at work. So we didn't have the opportunity to actually speak to the maintenance person, and point out the problem. The door looked a little better, and the temperature was more agreeable, so we didn't think much more of it. Now, however, there's a huge, noticeable gap at the top of the door where it doesn't close. From the bottom corner of the door to the top corner of the door, I would estimate it's a good quarter inch crooked. Even if we push the door hard enough for the lock the latch, you can see straight out through the gap. If you put your hand near the bottom compared to the top, you can feel the freezing cold outside air. We've placed a level on the track, and the track isn't level; so our guess is the building has settled over the years, causing the doorframes to be crooked. We haven't spoken to any other tenants to determine if this is an issue elsewhere, although we certainly can, if that would make our case stronger. We've contacted them three times in the last month and a half to come look at it, and find a solution. It's winter in Michigan, we're in the negative degrees last I looked. Our heat is turned on, and we have this huge gap in our door that's leaking heat (aka money). For reference, with our heat at a standard ~70-75 degrees, we're sweating in our bedrooms, and wearing robes and blankets in our living room. Our heating bills are noticeably higher than last winter. Is there any precedent for recouping the costs of our higher heat bill as a result of the door issue? What steps would need to be taken (beyond the contact we've already made with management)? I'm assuming, if we did pursue this, it would be in small claims, how much would that cost? Would it even be worth it for a couple hundred dollars (very rough estimate)? Additionally, our lease ends in March and we're moving out. Should we be more focused on getting them to fix the door so we aren't charged for it? Would them fixing or not fixing the door before March give us any more proof if we were to try recouping our costs? Thanks in advance for any advice.

(New York City) What type of lawyer should I consult if I think I might need to withhold rent?

housing

Apologies if this is answered in the wiki somewhere - my link isn’t working. The heat in my apartment hasn’t been working since the beginning of November. I get partial heat in one room and no heat in another. We have been waiting over a month for this, and it’s getting really cold. I don’t want to go to the extreme of withholding rent yet, but I want to know what my options are if it doesn’t get fixed. What type of lawyer should I consult? Thanks!

I punched a guy who routinely invited drunk girls to his dorm to have sex with them, charged with 4th degree assault with no priors. Likely penalties?

criminal

Long story short, I’m living in Kentucky and charged with 4th degree assault. No injury, punched the guy once and left the room. Spent a night in jail and just attended my pretrial. Trial is set for next month. What are the likely penalties for someone in my situation? I’ve been respectful and cooperative with police, to the point where they’ve been pretty friendly and joked with me. Shown remorse and have been punished by my university accordingly (relatively leniently I might add). I’ve had no contact with the defendant whatsoever, blocked him on social media and have avoided him. He’s told others that his attorney is requesting a “$1000 bond and probation”. This doesn’t make sense to me, considering I’m not in jail and the max fine for a misdemeanor here is $500. Officers I’ve spoken to have said I’ll likely receive community service, which I’m happy to accept. Honestly just want to move past this and get back to my school work. I’m going home to see my parents and talk about hiring an attorney, but we’re not exactly rich and I’d like to save them money and just get a public defender. Any insight on what I’m looking at or what I should look into? Sorry if this isn’t a lot to go on, but yknow.

Can someone retract their "contribution" to a musical work after they've already agreed in writing?

contract

A Muslim singer sang on a song I wrote. He agreed to us using his vocals and having his name in the credits via email. I've already paid large sums of money to have it produced and engineered. There is speculation by a fellow Muslim friend that the producer may be Pro-Israeli (there is no explicit corroboration of this anywhere to be found), but now I'm worried that the singer may want to retract his voice from my musical work due to the Producer's speculative personal politics. Is he able to do this after he's already agreed in writing to letting us use his vocals in the song?

a Will never spoken of

wills

Short and sweet (can go into more detail, though there isn't a lot more to say). I was at my father and step-mother's house while they were out of town, I was watching their dog for them. I was snooping around the house, and in doing so stumbled on my Grandmother's Will. In the will it stipulated that everything she had was to be sold (not that she was rich) including her house and car, everything. Whatever was made from selling it was to then be split up among her grandchildren (me and my siblings). I was never aware of this will, and certainly nothing was ever made of it. Some stuff went to storage, while the house itself is being rented. Not only was I (and my siblings) never informed of the will, never saw any money from things being sold and the house being rented. What exactly do I do, legally, in a situation like this?

Next of kin advice?

wills

My father recently passed. My father lived with my grandpa. My father died at home. My older sister is next of kin. My grandpa has paperwork to have my sister sign for my grandpa to have control over what happens to my fathers body and very little of what he owned. Does she get the say if an autopsy happens? Can she get a copy of an autopsy report if there is one? Would the paperwork give my grandpa legality of what happens for burial or for his thins/vehicles? Sister and I have never been through this before any advice would really help.

Under suspicion my roommate or his girlfriend broke my car window, what can i do about this?

criminal

As the title states I believe my roommate or his girlfriend broke my passenger side window on my car as a result of a childish feud he’s been waging with me. This needs a little backstory so please allow me to provide. I live with 3 roommates in a student housing apartment complex near my university in North Carolina. We all moved in as friends but it seems my one roommate has slowly vilified me to both himself and my roommates as they now exclude me from almost everything they do as a group. So about 2 weeks ago now he stole a floor lamp from our living room that belonged to me because he claims “I leave it on too much and its using too much electricity” (he failed to mention his mini-fridge he keeps in his room but i digress). The floor lamp was mine and i proved it as my mother was there at target when we purchased it, it is on her credit card statement, and she even remembers him saying he had a similar one last year in his dorm when we moved in. I first tried to go to the front office and see what the apartment complex would do about it and they said they wouldn’t do anything and to call the police. I felt that was slightly too harsh as much as i don’t care for him so I texted him and told him to either give me back my property or I would have no other choice than to remove everything I own out of the kitchen and living room and see if he prefers eating off of plates with silverware or with his hands as I own most of the furnishings in the kitchen. Nothing happened for a few days and since i was busy with work and school i couldn’t get to removing my things. Finally after getting home from work one night i began washing dishes and such to remove them when i noticed my lamp had been returned. All was well, i finished washing dishes, started the washer, and went to bed happy that everything had gone back to normal. Unfortunately it was not over. The next morning i woke up for my 8 am class and got home around 9 (this was last Tuesday). My other roommates had gone to their 9:30 classes and the only other person home was the roommate in question. I knew he was home as a few weeks before he had blown a gasket over me playing music too loud and he said “you realize you aren’t the only person who lives here, right?” I apologized but had no idea at the time anyone else was home, this type of reaction to small things that could be peacefully resolved without yelling and anger is pretty standard for him. Anyways, from that i realized he has an 11 am class. so from around 9-10:30 he would’ve been around before leaving for his class. My window was broken between the hours of 9-11:50 as that was when i left for my next class at 12:30 and realized what had happened. From here i want to talk about why I think either he or his girlfriend did it beyond the petty feud that i thought had been wrapped up. The window was broken completely, all the way through. it wasn’t like a brick was thrown at it, it was clearly a window breaking device which one of them might have more readily available access to as i’m pretty sure one of their parents is a police officer (other than that you can easily buy them as well). the window glass hadn’t been disturbed as when the officer at the scene opened the door and closed it, that was when all the glass fell out around the frame. there was nothing in my car that was valuable and that was easily available to see as i don’t have tinted windows, the most valuable thing was probably a 15$ portable phone charger. beyond that the doors were still locked and they didn’t even lift up the lock after breaking the window and everything inside was left as it, nothing was even so much as touched. The reporting officer himself clearly could tell that it was a targeted crime based on those facts and all the backstory led him to believe as I do that my roommate or his girlfriend broke the window. And finally what in my opinion pushes me completely over the edge is that while talking to the officer, his girlfriend pulled back into the apartment complex and parked a few spots a way, she was clearly not acting normal as her and the roommate in question never waste time going inside to our apartment especially since shes often angry and walks in to immediately picks a fight with him. She pulls in a few spots from me and the officer, i tell the officer thats his girlfriend and to be subtle and then she just, doesn’t do anything. She just sits there and awkwardly sneaks a look every once in a while then looks back at her phone. she did this for about 10 minutes and then gets out of the car stands outside her door for about a minute or so, gets back inside her car, and drives away. Ive tried over the last almost week to think of any plausible scenario where a normal person would do that and can’t. My other roommate immediately approached me to see what happened when he got home before her. So after that i mostly concluded my statement to the officer, and went about planning out to get my window replaced and as of right now I have heard nothing from the officer. He said he had 4 days off from Wednesday to Saturday but It is now Monday night and i haven’t heard back. Now i’m wondering, where do i go from here?

Ex promised me the GI bill in lieu of alimony/ spousal support but never put it in my name

family

I'm not sure how much information I have to give here, but I don't want to give more than necessary. We were divorced in South Carolina but now live in different states. Our divorce agreement states that the GI bill is supposed to be in my name and that I have the rights to it from then on. This was because he filed for divorce, the divorce disrupted my education, and I was accepting it in place of any kind of spousal support. I wanted it in the agreement because I know he could put it back in his name at any time. Now, he was supposed to put it in my name before we signed the papers and made it official. Apparently he did not do this (this was years ago and I'm just now in a position to be able to utilize it which is why it has all come up) and now there is no way to put it in my name. I was trying to go through VA and do all the paperwork so they could start paying the school which is when they said they had nothing on file in my name. I confronted him about it and he said he would figure it out and fix it. That was almost a year ago. Last I heard, he said the GI bill was in our kid's name. I haven't been shown any proof of this and have no reason to believe he's doing anything to make it right. I doubt there is any way for me to get the GI bill now and I will probably have to take out huge loans if I choose to continue my education. Can I ask him to at least help pay for a portion of my education?? I appreciate you all reading this and thank you in advance for any responses!

Landlord trying to move me into a different place than I leased originally

housing

Pennsylvania This past spring I signed a lease (along with another 40ish guys) to move into "our" fraternity house (we own a minority portion of the property and have lived there since the house was built years and years ago). The lease was accepted, I paid my deposit, and I paid my rent. Recently, the landlord tried to get me to move into a different location (sent an addendum to the lease detailing it) because of his alleged concerns due to a probation-esque sanction from the past and a possible violation that would not allow us to live there. This violation will *not* cause us to be evicted as he originally thought. However, during the time that he thought we would be evicted, due to not understanding the agreement and *not* due to the local government changing their mind later, he gave leases out to new tenants. When we figured this out we were upset and tried to figure out what was going on, while telling the landlord that we would not sign the addendum to move into a different location. Today, I got an email from the landlord saying that the window of time to negotiate had come and gone in the spring (at that time, we didn't even know he was giving new tenants leases, moving us out, or even thought he had any concerns of eviction that would lead him to do so) and the location was rented to a different tenant. He said he "sincerely believed" that moving us out (to avoid the eviction, which was never going to happen) was for our own good as a fraternity, and that he has entered into a contract at the new location and considers that he is meeting his obligation to us. The other house is owned by a different fraternity who are currently having their own issues. The rental permit for it is currently suspended and only by entering a restrictive agreement with the local government can they even rent it to *anyone*. They themselves cannot move in until 3 years from now but will undoubtedly move in immediately at that time. We also have no guarantee of any other housing, including our own house, after that time, which kinda sucks a lot for a fraternity. Do I have any way of staying in the original house? tl;dr: Signed my lease and paid my rent. Landlord said screw you I'm renting it to someone else, offers a crappy different place to live, says he fulfilled his end of the contract.

Dad dies, leaving half a million in his trust fund. Stepmother, and mother of one of my brothers, wants it all.

wills

I'm 24 years old and living abroad, but this is all taking place back home in the sunny state of Queensland, Australia. First off, dad left no will behind that we know of. I have a brother who is 19. My dad and mum split when I was 12, and dad got shacked up with and eventually married another woman, who he had a child with about a year and a half ago. Dad died unexpectedly, while I was in the country visiting. His wife has been very unclear with us about the facts, from the actual amount he had left, all the way down to the actual circumstances of our fathers death (he was intoxicated when he died, something she lied to us about). Since he died, I've spoken to her via email a handful of times, but I haven't mentioned the money yet. Every time we communicate with each other she tells me the same things - how poor she is, how much debt dad left her in to raise her son, etc. She's in her mid-40's and is in a mid-paying field with enough contacts to be able to find herself a job. She also has an appartment that is now in her name to sell. She's also got dads lawyer working for her, for free. I'm sure that, even without the money, she could survive with her child. She's mentioned her own financial situation to me, but has carefully left out any details about the money that dad has left. It's all in a trust fund, through his work. We spoke to a solicitor and he said that basically since she's got a kid and was financially dependant on him at the time of his death, she will probably get everything. To me, it just doesn't seem right. Before I left, she took me into his room and showed me a box of broken, counterfeit wrist watches that belonged to dad. She told me that my brother and I could choose what we wanted out of the box, since dad would probably want us to have them. She's sitting on half a million, and her condolensces stop at a box of broken fake wrist watches. He had real watches, too, but she wants to keep those for my youngest brother, her child. She gave my other brother several of his average old colognes, however he also noticed that some of dads more expensive (that we know he owned) colognes weren't mentioned or seen. I don't know what to do. We're going to get a lawyer, but the solicitors told us that about 90 percent of these cases end with the mother keeping it all. It feels like a knife through the fucking heart. If it were 50 grand, even 100 grand, I'd understand. But she's just seen half a million and gone, "well fuck 'em then". She hasn't made any contact with me in months, and my younger brother says she's stopped talking to him, too. I'm guessing this was the advice of her lawyer. I don't know what to do. I never thought I'd be in a situation like this. In europe, I'm making 14 thousand euro a year. I want to study abroad over here so that I can start a career in something that actually has a future, but it's hard. I was going to use this money to build a future that would have made him proud, but it's starting to look like all of that might never happen. Any advice is appreciated, sorry for the boring wall of text but I'm not too good at consolidating my thoughts at the moment.

[MI] My boss has made numerous remarks about my ADHD and ADHD medication in private and in front of coworkers

employment

He knows I take medicine for ADHD and ever since he found out, he will make comments like “did you take your aderal today?” when my production isn’t where it needs to be (I’m in sales). He has even said to me “are your sure your medication doesn’t make things worse for you?” It’s a small company and he’s good friends with th head of hr and I’m honestly afraid to go to them. Is there anything else I can do?

What is going to happen at a TRO hearing? In California

family

My abuser has already violated the order twice & was arrested for it last week ( I called). I want to ultimately extend the order to 90 days, file the separation/divorce with an attorney, get all the custody and support stuff worked out. 3 weeks I’ve only been able to do a handful of things. I really need more time but I have no idea what to expect at the hearing. My abuser is on taking drugs and is totally out of touch with reality right now. He is focusing all his anger at me because I won’t tolerate the abuse he does to me. The DA is also pursuing charges for the 2 RO violations. Can I request he Get Mandated drug rehabilitation/ probation? Over straight jail time?

Former Contracting Company Demanding I Repay “Overpaid” Wages - Need Advice

employment

Hi there legal advice Reddit, I’d really appreciate the help. I work in IT/tech, and many of the jobs in my industry are contract based (not FTE.) Generally I would seek out or be sought out by a contracting company, who would set up an interview for me for an open role, and then if I was hired, all my official documentation and payment would be through the contracting company. Been doing this for over a decade with no issues. My first role after moving to Denver was with Spectrum/Charter, contracting through a company I won’t name here. They were small though and I found out after I was hired and talked to other contractors, that they had a shit reputation locally. Lots of issues, I can explain if needed. My contract was for 6 months, it got extended, and then last May I left for another opportunity. I have not worked for this contracting company since April of ‘19. Last month I received an email from a 3rd party vendor my former contracting company used for payroll processing. I’d had a ton of issues with this vendor while working for the contracting company (late or missing checks, rude customer service, etc). The vendor asked me to DocuSign a document agreeing to repay wages they say I was overpaid/mistakenly paid from July to August. The original document listed July 2020 and August 2020 dates. I replied that there must be some mistake, as I did not work for the contracting company during this time. A very rude response followed telling me that this was a simple typo, they meant 2019, and I needed to repay. They resent the document with “corrected” dates and said that during an audit they found that the hours I submitted were rejected from my manager and resubmitted for a lesser number, and this error was my responsibility. The issue isn’t the money, it’s a small amount. My concern is this: 1) I do not trust this vendor and have no reason to believe them 2) I’m afraid if I pay they’ll just come back and say they ran another audit and found more money I “owe.” More than this I don’t want my credit ruined or to be taken to small claims court (the amount is less than $200.) But I’m not sure if that’s even a possibility in this instance. Any advice for me? I tried emailing my former recruiter and his boss but of course neither of them are with the contracting company any longer. A quick call to an employment lawyer resulted in a kind rejection of any assistance. Is it in my best interest to just pay them, or is there something else I can/should do (other than ignoring their emails and calls?) Thank you!!

Texas made it law to decline insurance coverage to terminating my much wanted pregnancy with a terminal diagnosis of anencephaly / baby without a head essentially. This is 2018 and I’m appalled, and disgusted. It’s sick. They want women to suffer through these pregnancies for what? It’s unthinkable.

insurance

Hi all, It was suggested that I reach out here for help for our appalling experience with our recent news of fatal pregnancy with anencephaly (where baby didn’t form brain/top of her head) pregnancy that Texas has made it illegal to cover with insurance for purpose of termination. I will postures story here: and my plea for this sub if it speaks to you would you help share our story? Also if you’re a lawyer, could you help us write something to the Texas government as a formal letter / explaination of our heartbreaking story and discovery. We are beyond devastated that Texas has made it illegal for insurance to cover termination of severe deformities, malformations, sever fatal chromosomal abnormalities etc. Here’s our story. We sit here in complete and utter disbelief and despair. We are in shock. We can’t take much more. I have a different side to share about termination for medical reasons and insurance for this being AGAINST the law here in Texas. My husband and I wanted children desperately. We have had 3 gut wrenching miscarriages and recently we were so excited that we had finally a healthy baby on the way. All tests were normal and checking out fine, weekly ultrasounds were fine. My body started to change and grow. I had severe all day sickness and all the symptoms. Until the day things weren’t normal. This week on an ultrasound scan we found out the baby has a fatal condition called anencephaly which affects some 0.05% pregnancies that are past 12 weeks and are diagnosable at 12-20 weeks - second trimester. Basically a shit chance where the baby doesn’t develop a skull and would die at birth, shortly after birth with severe, severe deformities but still has all motor functions during pregnancy - and kicks, has normal heartbeat etc all everything. I was on folate and prenatal for a year before and through pregnancy. We live in Texas, which has now become the biggest regret of my life. Our two specialists recommended early termination for obvious reasons only to find out today that Texas passed a law that FORBIDS and makes it ILLEGAL for any insurance to cover ANY early terminations of ANY pregnancy even if the baby is completely terminal with the most severe chromosomal or physical deformities. The only way they will cover any such termination is if the mother was dying from a complication. I am now almost 4 months along and having to carry this child whom I love so much while I can feel every little thing inside my body changing is crucifying. We are choosing to go into debt to pay cash to terminate this pregnancy with our doctors at this hospital which will cost anywhere 5,000-10,000 dollars depends on what happens / length of stay/ any complications etc. EVEN paying cash the hospital still has to petition the state in some ass backwards way to even allow an early termination and we have to wait one week. Even for ONE extra week I am completely wrecked inside and out, barren with grief and agony and now incredible financial debt. I believe there is an option to go to an abortion clinic somewhere in Texas which is still several thousand dollars in the second trimester but I don’t feel comfortable since they are staffed with random physicians and I just want to at least have a chance to stay healthy after all this. This problem is not diagnosed until second trimester and all tests and blood work were normal Including chromosomal testing up to this point. To imagine this to be my fate for another 5 months, I honestly think I would kill myself. There are countless women that have to end very wanted pregnancies due to fatal chromosomal abnormalities in a way that nothing was their fault. We didn’t deserve This. We followed all the rules. We didn’t drink coffee, we suffered horrible morning sickness for months. Our body changes and our body started producing milk after delivering a dead child. Some women who simply can’t afford this here carry to term to then suffer from c-sections and chronic pain, from vaginal and urinary in continence, organ prolapse and not to mention complete and horrifying, disabling depression. And our bodies have reminded us for many months and years that we did all this for nothing. I read a post that it’s the same scenario in Ireland and I was appalled. While not completely illegal here in Texas, the fact that insurance won’t cover such terminal fatal and catastrophic diagnosis to people and women that are already suffering in the worst way imaginable - this is atrocious. It’s unimaginable. It’s unthinkable that someone thinks I should suffer through 9 months of PTSD, disabling depression, feeling this baby kick and keep me up at night urinating once an hour, losing sleep, having milk for no one. So what? So some fucker in congress can say they are a Christian? This is the least Christian, inhumane and disgusting law. I am ashamed I live in Texas. I am ashamed for all the women that have suffered. I am suffering with you all. I am appalled and outraged. I am deeply depressed over the probable last chance for a child after so much loss. I am ashamed of our government. I am disgusted that so few experience this hell and think they can judge what it would feel like and wish suffering on me and women like me. There is no happy ending for us. Just loss, suffering, a terminal diagnosis and failure of government and insurance to help those who are in deep need of it. We won’t be trying again and are choosing to move on without children after 4 horrifying experiences. Fuck you texas. Fuck you government. And for anyone that doesn’t agree, come stand in my shoes. Just for a day. It’s so dark you won’t find a way back to your daylight. Oh and even worse, TEXAS is also passing a law that would allow pro life physicians to omit information to patients that would suggest that they need to terminate and prevent the patient from suing the physician when the baby is born with such deformities. This is Texas. This is where I live in 2018. It’s unimaginable. Today we made an appt a reputable clinic to see if it’s even an option for us to go there instead of our high risk ob practice / hospital and history of prior d&c and late procedures could cause permanent scarring and any chance for future pregnancy changes or if all is lost, if it’s safer for me to remain with my high risk ob at the hospital due to my heart condition called wolf Parkinson’s White where I can go into ventricular fibrillation any time especially during labor/ anesthesia/ surgery. This is all just has been awful. I have consulted a lawyer to see if this is something that can be fought but basically was told it would be a long drawn out battle that would likely end up poorly anyway in our very red state. So my plea is just share if it speaks to you, be appalled with us, be sad with us and if you want to write a letter on our behalf please PM me and I would do anything to help. Thank you all so much.

Apartment deposit question - CO

housing

Colorado, USA I just got my deposit back and the landlord withheld a bunch, some what they took I agree with and some of it I do not. But my lease ended on 7/28 and the check and invoice are dated 9/15. [I found this](https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/2016/title-38/tenants-and-landlords/article-12/part-1/section-38-12-103/#:~:text=(1) which says that if the landlord does not return deposit within one month they forfeit the right to withhold any of it. Am I reading this right, and if so, am I be able to ask for the full deposit back? I really could use the money from the full deposit. Thank you!

(Ohio) I have a question about the nuances surrounding cottage food laws and the food industry in Ohio.

business

**Location:** Ohio, US. **Premise:** Compared to other states, Ohio is relatively lax with producing food for sale in your private home. It's legal to sell food that is not defined by the law as potentially hazardous (typically things that require refrigeration), no inspections, no license, no insurance, nothing. If you do want to sell that category of food, you can apply for a home bakery license through our Department of Agriculture. So right now I can sell a birthday cake but I'd be technically breaking the law selling a cheesecake. My situation would make me ineligible for a home bakery license (primarily, no animals allowed in the home). It's a reasonable bar for them to hold people to, so I don't begrudge the state its health standards. **Question:** If I had access to a fully licensed commercial bakery, ex. renting kitchen space outside their normal hours, is that an adequate way to make those items in the eyes of the law? What matters more, whether the kitchen is properly licensed and inspected, or the person or business that handles the food? Is this a grey area that Ohio law isn't specific enough to cover? *In reality and practical terms*, I know a lot of people get away with doing these things at home anyways, and they fly under the radar of the Agriculture Department, but I'd like to understand the nuances of the law here. Thanks.

Dad abusing dog- advice? (AL/WI)

criminal

I (29F) have often visited my parents this summer, and noticed something troubling. My father (69M) has always had a short temper, though he never hit me or my (27) brother. He mostly confined it to yelling, though he would kick or hit the dog we had as a kid if she got in his way when he was mad. Now, my mom (67), has had another dog for about 3.5 years. Mom and dad live together still, and spend summers on a boat, winters and official address on the Gulf Coast. I don’t know if my dad is frustrated with the dog or what, but at a few points over the past year, I have seen him roughly grab, hit, or choke the dog, sometimes muttering threats, if she doesn’t “behave.” Said dog is about 45-50 pounds- dad clears 200. Despite this, she seems well-adjusted, happy, and knows about 50 words and 20 commands. My mom takes really good care of her. Is there an agency or steps to report this to? More importantly, can anything be done since the dog suffers no permanent physical damage and is otherwise very well cared for? I do not want the dog to have to leave my mother, since they are very closely bonded. Thanks for help.