Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
nm
Jan 28, 2008

"I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

CombatMedic posted:

In Travis Co, Texas.

My wife and I got divorced last month after 5 years of marriage. We had no kids or any real property, as we are renters. We filed without lawyers. I was out of the country when the "cooling off" period ended, so my wife took the papers in for the final decree.

Without my consent or knowledge, she listed 20k in credit card debt as a joint debt.

While issuing the final decree, the paperwork says that the judge advised "In the interest of fairness" I am responsible for paying her $700+ per month until the 20k is paid off.

The credit cards were entirely in her name. One of the accounts had a card issued with my name on it, and I can think of maybe 2 or 3 times that I used it for something less than $50. Besides 2 vacations we took, I can't think of a single thing that I bought with credit or that we bought for the family with a credit card.

I essentially left the marriage debt-free. However, I left her most of the furniture and household items.

So, 2 questions. Am I going to be reponsible for the entirety of that debt since we were a family unit, regardless of how much of the debt was incurred by myself alone?

Does the judges' decision on the decree bind me to pay her that money, or is it merely a "suggestion"?

Any other thoughts or comments?

Not to be a smartass or a broken record, but you need a lawyer. You needed one earlier, would be a lot cheaper than 20 grand.
In family law, nothing is simple.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

G-Mawwwwwww
Jan 31, 2003

My LPth are Hot Garbage
Biscuit Hider

CombatMedic posted:

In Travis Co, Texas.

My wife and I got divorced last month after 5 years of marriage. We had no kids or any real property, as we are renters. We filed without lawyers. I was out of the country when the "cooling off" period ended, so my wife took the papers in for the final decree.

Without my consent or knowledge, she listed 20k in credit card debt as a joint debt.

While issuing the final decree, the paperwork says that the judge advised "In the interest of fairness" I am responsible for paying her $700+ per month until the 20k is paid off.

The credit cards were entirely in her name. One of the accounts had a card issued with my name on it, and I can think of maybe 2 or 3 times that I used it for something less than $50. Besides 2 vacations we took, I can't think of a single thing that I bought with credit or that we bought for the family with a credit card.

I essentially left the marriage debt-free. However, I left her most of the furniture and household items.

So, 2 questions. Am I going to be reponsible for the entirety of that debt since we were a family unit, regardless of how much of the debt was incurred by myself alone?

Does the judges' decision on the decree bind me to pay her that money, or is it merely a "suggestion"?

Any other thoughts or comments?

I'm not your lawyer. This isn't legal advice. Get another opinion.

But yes. You're in a community property state. The judge can make a fair distribution of community property and community debt incurred during the period of the marriage, barring some exceptions.

Yak! Attack!
Mar 13, 2011
I have a question about child passports.

My wife and I have been separated for 3 years. We haven't legally divorced however. We have a daughter who is 6 and my ex wants to take her to Indonesia in 2012. I am hesitant about the trip because I won't be going and I am leery about my daughter being so far from home with someone I don't trust.

I've been blocking this trip for a long time, but she is hounding me about it now. So far as I know, a child passport requires both parent's consent, right? Is there anything she can do legally to overcome that?

joat mon
Oct 15, 2009

I am the master of my lamp;
I am the captain of my tub.

Yak! Attack! posted:

I have a question about child passports.

My wife and I have been separated for 3 years. We haven't legally divorced however. We have a daughter who is 6 and my ex wants to take her to Indonesia in 2012. I am hesitant about the trip because I won't be going and I am leery about my daughter being so far from home with someone I don't trust.

I've been blocking this trip for a long time, but she is hounding me about it now. So far as I know, a child passport requires both parent's consent, right? Is there anything she can do legally to overcome that?

Both parent's consent is required, unless the applying parent can show:
-Minor's certified U.S. or foreign birth certificate listing only the applying parent
-Court order granting sole custody to the applying parent (unless child's travel is restricted by that order)
-Court order specifically permitting applying parent's or guardian's travel with the child
-Judicial declaration of incompetence of non-applying parent
-Death certificate of non-applying parent
-"Special Circumstances" (but usually only re: totally being unable to contact other parent)

You can also apply to receive notice of any attempts to get a passport for the child:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/80112.pdf

Is it "I don't trust" as in "I don't trust her to come back the the States with our kid" or as in "I don't trust her because we've done and said hurtful things to each other and are still hurting and separated because of those things we did to each other." If it's the former, don't consent, and send off the CPIAP application. If it's the latter, only you know if you're doing this to hurt your wife (and indirectly, your child) or not.

dvgrhl
Sep 30, 2004

Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can give some walnuts and chocolates and get gold from him?
Soiled Meat

Alchenar posted:

That looks more like it's just the agency covering themselves from rogue Big Brother/Sisters who go off and do dangerous poo poo. You just have to be sure whenever you are doing anything high risk to fully explain and get consent from the parents.

Incredulous Red posted:

My instinct is that you're not admitting that the activity is inherently high risk. It's just not finger painting or a day hike

Thanks both of you for your feedback. I understand that you are not my lawyers, and this is not legal advice.

positech
Jun 26, 2011
I need some tenant / landlord advice for the state of Pennsylvania, specifically Delaware County if it maters.

Long story short, my landlord has decided to sell the house we rent. This is no big deal to us, we were planning to move anyway and are actually buying a house. We close on January 6th and planned to move out at that time. We have no written lease. We have 2 dogs, and the landlords parents contacted us about 2 weeks ago telling us that people were complaining that the house smelled like dogs and said that we have to get rid of them. I politely explained there was nowhere we could put the dogs for nearly 2 months, and it wasn't an option.

Today, I came home to a letter taped to my bedroom door. It's dated November 21, from a lawyer in Philadelphia. It's an eviction letter, and states the following;

"

November 21, 2011

My name and My girlfriends name
Address

RE: Premise (address)

Dear (me) and (my gf)

Please be advised that I represent (my lovely landlord) the owner of the premise (address). As you are aware you have been tenants of (mr lovely landlord) in the premise of (lovely house) on an oral lease on a month to month basis. Mr lovely landlord has advised you that you must vacate the property as he is selling it and you have in addition animals in the property which you have refused to remove.

Please consider this correspondence formal notice that you must vacate the property within 30 days of the date of this letter or eviction proceedings will be initiated. Should you fail to comply with this demand you could be liable for additional costs including court costs and attorney's fees.

Thank you for your courtesy and cooperation

Sincerely,

Some Jackass, ESQ

PHM/mb
Enclosures
cc: mr lovely landlord

"

Additionally, there's a letter from his family inside (I should explain, the landlord is a total spineless loser and his family does everything for him- including pay the mortgage)

The letter is dated today, and says that although the attorney letter is dated nov 21 they're "allowing" us to stay until January 2 so we can get through the holidays. blah blah blah, please comply with this notice and remove all belongings before Jan 3.





I don't want to go in depth with it, but the landlord has put me through enough bullshit in the last couple of years, I am not going to make this easy on him and simply move out before going to closing on my own house Jan 6th.



My questions are;

1.) Is this even a legal eviction notice? it's dated Nov 21, but was taped to my bedroom door today. It's not signed by him, nor was it delivered by him.

2.) What are the laws in PA regarding eviction? If my understanding is correct, after the date which he has told us to vacate by, only then can he go to court and try to legally evict me, right? How long would that take? We plan to be gone the weekend of the 6th.

3.) What are the laws regarding showings? He has told me I have to leave and take the dogs with me for showings. He has between 1-3 showings 3 days a week (average) ranging from 1 hour each to 2 hours each. He typically gives me only a few hours notice, and has had several showings at inconvenient times (during work hours, very early weekend) what are my rights regarding these showings?

4.) Can I legally put a locking door on my bedroom? I don't trust him around my belongings while I'm gone, and would like to lock my bedroom down while people are here for a showing.

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

Eviction can start 10-15 days after a notice to quit depending on some facts. Then there has to be a hearing in front of a District judge.

I won't address your specifics, sorry.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

positech posted:

I need some tenant / landlord advice for the state of Pennsylvania, specifically Delaware County if it maters.

Long story short, my landlord has decided to sell the house we rent. This is no big deal to us, we were planning to move anyway and are actually buying a house. We close on January 6th and planned to move out at that time. We have no written lease. We have 2 dogs, and the landlords parents contacted us about 2 weeks ago telling us that people were complaining that the house smelled like dogs and said that we have to get rid of them. I politely explained there was nowhere we could put the dogs for nearly 2 months, and it wasn't an option.

Today, I came home to a letter taped to my bedroom door. It's dated November 21, from a lawyer in Philadelphia. It's an eviction letter, and states the following;

"

November 21, 2011

My name and My girlfriends name
Address

RE: Premise (address)

Dear (me) and (my gf)

Please be advised that I represent (my lovely landlord) the owner of the premise (address). As you are aware you have been tenants of (mr lovely landlord) in the premise of (lovely house) on an oral lease on a month to month basis. Mr lovely landlord has advised you that you must vacate the property as he is selling it and you have in addition animals in the property which you have refused to remove.

Please consider this correspondence formal notice that you must vacate the property within 30 days of the date of this letter or eviction proceedings will be initiated. Should you fail to comply with this demand you could be liable for additional costs including court costs and attorney's fees.

Thank you for your courtesy and cooperation

Sincerely,

Some Jackass, ESQ

PHM/mb
Enclosures
cc: mr lovely landlord

"

Additionally, there's a letter from his family inside (I should explain, the landlord is a total spineless loser and his family does everything for him- including pay the mortgage)

The letter is dated today, and says that although the attorney letter is dated nov 21 they're "allowing" us to stay until January 2 so we can get through the holidays. blah blah blah, please comply with this notice and remove all belongings before Jan 3.





I don't want to go in depth with it, but the landlord has put me through enough bullshit in the last couple of years, I am not going to make this easy on him and simply move out before going to closing on my own house Jan 6th.



My questions are;

1.) Is this even a legal eviction notice? it's dated Nov 21, but was taped to my bedroom door today. It's not signed by him, nor was it delivered by him.

2.) What are the laws in PA regarding eviction? If my understanding is correct, after the date which he has told us to vacate by, only then can he go to court and try to legally evict me, right? How long would that take? We plan to be gone the weekend of the 6th.

3.) What are the laws regarding showings? He has told me I have to leave and take the dogs with me for showings. He has between 1-3 showings 3 days a week (average) ranging from 1 hour each to 2 hours each. He typically gives me only a few hours notice, and has had several showings at inconvenient times (during work hours, very early weekend) what are my rights regarding these showings?

4.) Can I legally put a locking door on my bedroom? I don't trust him around my belongings while I'm gone, and would like to lock my bedroom down while people are here for a showing.

Sounds like they're just refusing to renew your month-to-motnh tenancy. In my state, you need to provide 30 days written notice prior to terminating a month-to-month tenancy.

Have you considered just contacting the lawyer, in a friendly way, and seeing if you can have until the 6th to move out? It's 4 days, they'd probably give it to you just to make life easier on everyone.

Ashcans
Jan 2, 2006

Let's do the space-time warp again!

positech posted:

I need some tenant / landlord advice for the state of Pennsylvania, specifically Delaware County if it maters.

I am not a lawyer, but there are a couple things in your narrative that are confusing. You say that this is about a 'house we rent' but then you also talk about notices being posted on your bedroom door, and locking that door specifically. Are you renting an apartment/house or are you renting a room in a house? If its just a room, who else lives in the house? The landlord? His family? Just other renters? Whether or not the place is owner-occupied can make a difference in what he is allowed to do. You might want to clarify that for people.

Generally, you should look around for a tenants' rights organization or legal services. Many cities have some sort of group that can at least show you some resources. If nothing else, contact your state/metro bar association and ask for a referral to a lawyer - you can often get a free or cheap consultation with someone who will give you some idea if you have any case.

Queen Elizatits
May 3, 2005

Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD
Maybe you could also clarify the dog thing. From the notice it sounds like he is saying you don't have permission to have a dog there and you have two?
Although really I would do what Incredulous Red said, this seems like a situation you could resolve by being polite. And clean the house, I feel bad for your landlord if he is trying to sell it and it smells like dog.

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

I am pretty sure the Delco bar will let you talk to a lawyer for 30 mins for like $50. They are in Media somewhere.

Also, Goons, stop doing oral leases for fucks sake.

Kumquat
Oct 8, 2010
In Gulf Breeze, Florida, on a year lease with my girlfriend's mother even though she is on assignment and living in Cape Coral, Florida (long story that I can expound on if it becomes relevant). We agreed to each pay 50% of the rent and I would cover utilities. After a falling out, she has decided to stop paying her half of the rent.

I understand that we are joint and severally liable so the landlord must still be paid, regardless of which tenant is doing it. My question is that since I have no written agreement with my co-tenant, only a verbal agreement, can I still take her to small claims court for the amount of money she fails to pay?

If so, what are my chances of winning the suit? What kind of things should I bring as far as evidence or documents?

She's also trying to tell me that I need to buy out her security deposit. Is this true? I'm meeting with my landlord today to talk to her about this stuff, and my co-tenant keeps trying to ask me why I need to talk to her, and saying that she can probably answer any questions herself.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Robo Olga posted:

Maybe you could also clarify the dog thing. From the notice it sounds like he is saying you don't have permission to have a dog there and you have two?
Although really I would do what Incredulous Red said, this seems like a situation you could resolve by being polite. And clean the house, I feel bad for your landlord if he is trying to sell it and it smells like dog.

The notice of intent not to renew isn't based on the violation of a lease term.

euphronius posted:

Also, Goons, stop doing oral leases for fucks sake.

THIS

positech
Jun 26, 2011

Ashcans posted:

I am not a lawyer, but there are a couple things in your narrative that are confusing. You say that this is about a 'house we rent' but then you also talk about notices being posted on your bedroom door, and locking that door specifically. Are you renting an apartment/house or are you renting a room in a house? If its just a room, who else lives in the house? The landlord? His family? Just other renters? Whether or not the place is owner-occupied can make a difference in what he is allowed to do. You might want to clarify that for people.

Generally, you should look around for a tenants' rights organization or legal services. Many cities have some sort of group that can at least show you some resources. If nothing else, contact your state/metro bar association and ask for a referral to a lawyer - you can often get a free or cheap consultation with someone who will give you some idea if you have any case.

We've been here almost 2 years, originally he lived here too. He moved out a couple months ago. It's just us here now.

Robo Olga posted:

Maybe you could also clarify the dog thing. From the notice it sounds like he is saying you don't have permission to have a dog there and you have two?
Although really I would do what Incredulous Red said, this seems like a situation you could resolve by being polite. And clean the house, I feel bad for your landlord if he is trying to sell it and it smells like dog.

We have had the dogs since well before we moved here, he was fine with them. Actually, he wanted to get a third.

I should just give a few more details to help better understand the situation-

We worked together for a couple of years, the owner of the company died and we bought the company from the previous owners wife. He has basically just run the company into the ground, I started doing my own thing a few months back and as soon as I left he basically had nothing left. I was the only reason we made any money, and got sick of carrying him. Shortly after that he decided to sell the house, which was no problem. He told me he was going to put it on the market in January (this was late September). Come early October, he puts a for sale by owner sign up, about 2 weeks later it's replaced with a relator sign. Immediately the showings started, 1-3 a day multiple days a week with only a few hours notice. I still was able to comply, not a problem, whatever. Nobody that has seen the house has made an offer, his parents pay the 2 months mortgage that he's behind, they start getting pushy about the house selling when they realize basically they have to continue to pay it or it gets foreclosed on. He tells his parents that it's because of the dogs. Literally said that everybody that has seen the house said they weren't interested because it smells like a dog- which is horse poo poo. The house has hardwood floors, we mop at least twice a week, and the dogs both get groomed every Monday. If anything, the house smells like pine-sol and tropical shampoo.

I talk with him, let him know we go to closing on January 6th and will be out that weekend. He said that was fine. I also offered to help him repaint since his mom seems to be convinced the house smells like dog because the odor is "in the paint". I should mention, his mom has MS and has never even been to the house.

The real reason nobody is interested in the house is that he's asking 285, every comp in the area is priced at 275 or lower, and in much better condition (I know, since I was just at every other house in the neighborhood looking to buy) This house is unfinished, and has many serious flaws. There is half done construction done downstairs were he decided to build a bar but ran out of money after knocking the wall out, so instead there's just an odd wall that comes out with a large gap behind it to the crawl space. The downstairs bathroom has plumbing issues which cause the sink to overflow when you do laundry, and has left water stains on the walls and floor. There's also a shower, with no shower door or faucets. Oh, and mold on the ceiling. The plumbing upstairs leaks, and there's mold under the sink which smells musty. The cabinets look like a 5 year old installed them and are missing pieces. There's no backsplash along the wall in the kitchen- he removed the tile, ran out of money, and just painted over the old grout. Theres also a hole in the kitchen wall for an exhaust fan that doesn't operate. I could go on all day, basically the place is in shambled and he's asking about 35-40 over what it's worth. I tried to explain this to his mother, but she's convinced it's in great shape and the problem is my dogs.

If you want to talk about odor, the only room that smells (other than the musty smell that comes and goes in the kitchen due to mold) his former bedroom smells god awful. He used to come home poo poo faced on a regular basis and pissed in the corner of the bedroom (yes, I'm serious.)

This rear end in a top hat has put me through hell over the last year.



I spoke with an attorney this morning, who was actually my former landlord. He told me not to worry about anything at this point, I don't have to be out until the 3rd and I'm leaving the weekend of the 6th. Even if they file on the third I would be out well before the hearing. He also said it's my choice to leave for showings, I am under no obligation to remove myself or my dogs from the premise. Sounds like I have some leverage to stay until the weekend if he wants to have another showing while I'm hear.

positech fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Dec 1, 2011

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

positech posted:

words

If you're absolutely sure you can get out by a specific time in January, I would try very hard to get a written agreement allowing you to stay until that date and describing any rent you would have to pay for doing so. It'd serve as a defense in case they tried to bring a case against you for holdover rent for you being on the property after the 3rd.

I'd also consider documenting all the dates and times that the landlord/realtor brings people into the house without advance warning. I don't know what the law is in your area, this is not legal advice, but a lot of cities/states have laws that, barring emergency, require reasonable notice prior to the landlord entering the leased premises, which usually means 24-48 hours. You could theoretically use these as part of a defense if he decided to initiate proceedings against you for back rent.

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

Edit

Anger makes me say things I should not. Sorry.

euphronius fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Dec 2, 2011

Marxist Socialite
Jan 14, 2007

A friend of a friend posted a picture of her working in a morgue. Which wouldn't be bad except she is posing with her aunt, smiling in front of a completely visible dead body (I'm not going to post it). I'm trying to imagine a situation in which this would be ok and I just can't think of it.

Is this my problem, and do I have an obligation to do something about it? I kind of feel sick about it because my mom just died a couple a months ago, and the idea that someone would do something like that is unbelievably violating. I don't know anything about privacy laws in that kind of situation. Any advice is welcome.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

euphronius posted:

They still have to give a notice to quit. You have 10-15 days after a notice to quit until they can go to the DJ for eviction.

Actually, since he's on an oral month-to-month lease, and also arguably in breach of the lease terms for having the dogs, and the landlord gave him more than 30 days to get out, I think the 30 day letter telling him to GTFO suffices as notice for eviction proceedings. Statute only requires 15 and posting in a conspicuous place on the leased premises.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Marxist Socialite posted:

A friend of a friend posted a picture of her working in a morgue. Which wouldn't be bad except she is posing with her aunt, smiling in front of a completely visible dead body (I'm not going to post it). I'm trying to imagine a situation in which this would be ok and I just can't think of it.

Is this my problem, and do I have an obligation to do something about it? I kind of feel sick about it because my mom just died a couple a months ago, and the idea that someone would do something like that is unbelievably violating. I don't know anything about privacy laws in that kind of situation. Any advice is welcome.

I don't think you have an affirmative duty to report, but I am not a lawyer, and I would not advise you over the internet even if I was.

I can tell you that this sounds like something she would be fired for, and something she probably wouldn't want showing up in the local paper. If you're really her friend, your obligation to "do something about it" probably extends at least as far as giving her a phone call before calling the cops and telling her you don't think it's an OK thing to pose for pictures with relatives in front of dead bodies she's supposed to be working on, rather than trying to get her arrested or fired. Just sayin'

Marxist Socialite
Jan 14, 2007

Incredulous Red posted:

I don't think you have an affirmative duty to report, but I am not a lawyer, and I would not advise you over the internet even if I was.

I can tell you that this sounds like something she would be fired for, and something she probably wouldn't want showing up in the local paper. If you're really her friend, your obligation to "do something about it" probably extends at least as far as giving her a phone call before calling the cops and telling her you don't think it's an OK thing to pose for pictures with relatives in front of dead bodies she's supposed to be working on, rather than trying to get her arrested or fired. Just sayin'

Just to be clear, I don't actually know the person. She's a friend of a friend, my friend told me about it but refused to do anything about it because she doesn't think it's actually illegal. That's another problem is that I'm not even sure who I would report it to.

Kind of sounds like I can't do anything about it but this is just something that people aren't just fired for, but are shamed in the paper and investigated by the police for.

dvgrhl
Sep 30, 2004

Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can give some walnuts and chocolates and get gold from him?
Soiled Meat

Marxist Socialite posted:

A friend of a friend posted a picture of her working in a morgue. Which wouldn't be bad except she is posing with her aunt, smiling in front of a completely visible dead body (I'm not going to post it). I'm trying to imagine a situation in which this would be ok and I just can't think of it.

Is this my problem, and do I have an obligation to do something about it? I kind of feel sick about it because my mom just died a couple a months ago, and the idea that someone would do something like that is unbelievably violating. I don't know anything about privacy laws in that kind of situation. Any advice is welcome.

I think you should try to take your emotion out of it, and think a little more level headed about the situation. Even if she is just a friend of your friend, talk to her about how you feel about what she did. You can use your recent unfortunate experience and how you would feel if that was your loved one she was posing in front of, and I think that makes a good example for her to think more about her actions.

We've all done stupid things without really thinking about all of the consequences. I'm sure she wasn't doing it with the intention of being disrespectful of the deceased, right? Sometimes we just need a good reminder that our actions have other consequences then we considered.

I think in the long term you'll be a lot happier with yourself if you go this route, than if you do something to try to get her fired or in trouble.

Abugadu
Jul 12, 2004

1st Sgt. Matthews and the men have Procured for me a cummerbund from a traveling gypsy, who screeched Victory shall come at a Terrible price. i am Honored.

Marxist Socialite posted:

Just to be clear, I don't actually know the person. She's a friend of a friend, my friend told me about it but refused to do anything about it because she doesn't think it's actually illegal. That's another problem is that I'm not even sure who I would report it to.

Kind of sounds like I can't do anything about it but this is just something that people aren't just fired for, but are shamed in the paper and investigated by the police for.

I'd guess that the friend of a friend is incredibly desensitized to death, given the close working proximity. Perhaps point out to your friend that if the pic ever got back to a relative of the deceased, there might be some hurt feelings.

Or just let it go, since it's not really something that will bring the community to its knees, unless they dressed the dead body up in like a clown costume or are doing some sort of zombie reenactment with it, in which case, you should post the pic.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Abugadu posted:

Or just let it go, since it's not really something that will bring the community to its knees, unless they dressed the dead body up in like a clown costume or are doing some sort of zombie reenactment with it, in which case, you should post the pic.

Abugadu knows the legalities of zombie law. Ask him about it.

Marxist Socialite
Jan 14, 2007

Ok, thank you everyone for your help.

Sloppy Thirds
May 14, 2007
So today while picking up my sister from school my father decides to tell me he's being sued by Capital One for debt. Not sure why he hasn't told me this until now, but I know that it isn't that large of a sum. The situation is: my mother is on permanent disability, and my father is on workman's comp after getting injured on the job(it's been about 7 months now he's been on it, the injury was bad). My mother doesn't get paid much from her disability and my father hasn't been paid in 1 and a half months since the insurance company had 'suspicions' he was driving. Their 'suspicions' come from having one of their guys knock on 3 of my neighbors doors and asking if he was driving; 2 of them saying no, 1 of them, an old man who has no idea what the gently caress is going on, saying yes(I'm guessing he only said this because he didn't see my father's car outside since I had been driving it for a month because of my car dying).

What I'm trying to ask is, is there anything we can do about my father not getting paid for that month and a half?

and

Is there any way to get out of this lawsuit cleanly? My father's friend told him "oh, your wife is on disability, they can't make you guys pay it legally" which, while sounds nice, doesn't sound right. But I don't know :(

My bank account has been drained for the past month because I've been supporting them with the essentials on top of my own essentials(I don't make much), and any help would be greatly appreciated.

edit: My father has been calling the insurance company for the past week, always leading to voicemails or whatever. Apparently they said they would start paying him again, but he hasn't seen a dime since. I'm also in Illinois if that makes anything different.

chemosh6969
Jul 3, 2004

code:
cat /dev/null > /etc/professionalism

I am in fact a massive asswagon.
Do not let me touch computer.

Marxist Socialite posted:

Kind of sounds like I can't do anything about it but this is just something that people aren't just fired for, but are shamed in the paper and investigated by the police for.

I recall something similar happening a year or two ago, except it was only with organs and they were fired. I'm sure doing it with a body will also get them fired because if you were that company, do you really think that company wants it out there that they have employees posing with your loved ones in photos? Unless you're the only place in town, people would send them to other places.

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Sloppy Thirds posted:

So today while picking up my sister from school my father decides to tell me he's being sued by Capital One for debt. Not sure why he hasn't told me this until now, but I know that it isn't that large of a sum. The situation is: my mother is on permanent disability, and my father is on workman's comp after getting injured on the job(it's been about 7 months now he's been on it, the injury was bad). My mother doesn't get paid much from her disability and my father hasn't been paid in 1 and a half months since the insurance company had 'suspicions' he was driving. Their 'suspicions' come from having one of their guys knock on 3 of my neighbors doors and asking if he was driving; 2 of them saying no, 1 of them, an old man who has no idea what the gently caress is going on, saying yes(I'm guessing he only said this because he didn't see my father's car outside since I had been driving it for a month because of my car dying).

What I'm trying to ask is, is there anything we can do about my father not getting paid for that month and a half?

and

Is there any way to get out of this lawsuit cleanly? My father's friend told him "oh, your wife is on disability, they can't make you guys pay it legally" which, while sounds nice, doesn't sound right. But I don't know :(

My bank account has been drained for the past month because I've been supporting them with the essentials on top of my own essentials(I don't make much), and any help would be greatly appreciated.

edit: My father has been calling the insurance company for the past week, always leading to voicemails or whatever. Apparently they said they would start paying him again, but he hasn't seen a dime since. I'm also in Illinois if that makes anything different.

It sounds like you may meet income requirements for some free legal services. Have you Dad start by contacting Land of Lincoln Legal Services, and if they can't help maybe they can point him to an organization who can.

Queen Elizatits
May 3, 2005

Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD
I live in California. My husband and I were served with notice that a small claims court case was being filed against us in South Carolina back in August to have money released that was being held in an escrow account. We responded to that notice and countered that the money should be released to us and sent our evidence along with that as requested by the court.

We didn't hear anything at all until yesterday. We received an unregistered letter from the court summoning us to appear. The summon was issued by the court the 15th of November, and mailed first class the 28th. The summons was for court yesterday morning at 9am. We tried calling yesterday but by the time the letter got here it was too late in SC and they were closed.

My husband got in touch with someone, I think a clerk, today who told us because we didn't show up the person who filed the claim won and was being given the escrow.

I am asking this more out of curiosity than anything else I guess since we aren't actually out any money as the judge didn't award the person the court fees, but is this really proper procedure? I know when we filed a small claims case in California we had to prove the other person had received the paperwork 14 days before the court day. In this case we didn't receive anything until after the court date and the clerk didn't see any problem with that.

ibntumart
Mar 18, 2007

Good, bad. I'm the one with the power of Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton, and Mehen.
College Slice

Robo Olga posted:

I live in California. My husband and I were served with notice that a small claims court case was being filed against us in South Carolina back in August to have money released that was being held in an escrow account. We responded to that notice and countered that the money should be released to us and sent our evidence along with that as requested by the court.

We didn't hear anything at all until yesterday. We received an unregistered letter from the court summoning us to appear. The summon was issued by the court the 15th of November, and mailed first class the 28th. The summons was for court yesterday morning at 9am. We tried calling yesterday but by the time the letter got here it was too late in SC and they were closed.

My husband got in touch with someone, I think a clerk, today who told us because we didn't show up the person who filed the claim won and was being given the escrow.

I am asking this more out of curiosity than anything else I guess since we aren't actually out any money as the judge didn't award the person the court fees, but is this really proper procedure? I know when we filed a small claims case in California we had to prove the other person had received the paperwork 14 days before the court day. In this case we didn't receive anything until after the court date and the clerk didn't see any problem with that.

You might want to call the clerk back and ask what the procedure is for filing an appeal. The clerk might balk at this and claim you're asking for legal advice, but make clear you just want whatever packet and forms a small claims litigant ordinarily would receive and that you would be fine with a link to the relevant small claims website.

Konstantin
Jun 20, 2005
And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
If the money in the escrow account was significant, I'd try and get a hold of a South Carolina based lawyer. I doubt you will be able to handle this without one if you aren't physically present, and a lawyer will cost less then flying across the country for court appearances.

Jan
Feb 27, 2008

The disruptive powers of excessive national fecundity may have played a greater part in bursting the bonds of convention than either the power of ideas or the errors of autocracy.
My father is partner in a small law firm, and they had their voice mail hacked a few months back and used to initiate long distance calls to various african countries. Since these calls were all placed from "their" line, they're being held liable, and are being charged the full price for these fraudulent calls.

Now these are all busy lawyers, and negotiating some partial payment of the bill is cheaper than trying to file a lawsuit or take any legal action. I'm infuriated by he fact that their best option is to just roll over, when this is clearly out of their control, and the onus should fall on the carrier to prevent fraud, minus a reasonable deductible. (It works like this for credit card companies, why not phone companies?)

Anyway. This is in Canada, and the voice mail carrier is Rogers. This is far from an isolated case, there seems to be a wave of such hackings with the customers always footing the bill. There doesn't seem to be anything in the law covering these cases, and the regulatory body that should be handling this (the CRTC) has no precedent of having done anything in these cases. A cursory Google search shows that an open letter was sent to bring these practices to light at the CRTC, but clearly nothing was made to fill this legal void.

I don't think anything could currently be done to change things, short of mounting a class action lawsuit. But if even law offices prefer to just pay the fees instead of protesting, I don't know how a single tangentially related and indignant individual could prepare such a case.

Should I just throw my hands in desperation at the hubris of telecom corporations and the CRTC's surgical attachment to said corporations' big fat dongs wallets?

Jan fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Dec 3, 2011

Elector_Nerdlingen
Sep 27, 2004



Jan posted:

law firm, lawyers etc

"Hacked" voicemail would be a tricky as gently caress case, for many reasons not least of which is that it doesn't sound like anyone can point at a possible culprit.

I typed out some of the reasons that they might not want to do anything, but in short, they're lawyers and they probably have several super good reasons not to sue the poo poo out of the carrier / pursue the "hacker".

Incredulous Red
Mar 25, 2008

Jan posted:

My father is partner in a small law firm, and they had their voice mail hacked a few months back and used to initiate long distance calls to various african countries. Since these calls were all placed from "their" line, they're being held liable, and are being charged the full price for these fraudulent calls.

Now these are all busy lawyers, and negotiating some partial payment of the bill is cheaper than trying to file a lawsuit or take any legal action. I'm infuriated by he fact that their best option is to just roll over, when this is clearly out of their control, and the onus should fall on the carrier to prevent fraud, minus a reasonable deductible. (It works like this for credit card companies, why not phone companies?)

Anyway. This is in Canada, and the voice mail carrier is Rogers. This is far from an isolated case, there seems to be a wave of such hackings with the customers always footing the bill. There doesn't seem to be anything in the law covering these cases, and the regulatory body that should be handling this (the CRTC) has no precedent of having done anything in these cases. A cursory Google search shows that an open letter was sent to bring these practices to light at the CRTC, but clearly nothing was made to fill this legal void.

I don't think anything could currently be done to change things, short of mounting a class action lawsuit. But if even law offices prefer to just pay the fees instead of protesting, I don't know how a single tangentially related and indignant individual could prepare such a case.

Should I just throw my hands in desperation at the hubris of telecom corporations and the CRTC's surgical attachment to said corporations' big fat dongs wallets?

Somehow I doubt you have standing to bring a case on your own as it wasn't your phone line that got hacked. And, being a lawyer, he really doesn't need you asking the internet for legal advice.

Try sending a letter to your MP or something.

Queen Elizatits
May 3, 2005

Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

Konstantin posted:

If the money in the escrow account was significant, I'd try and get a hold of a South Carolina based lawyer. I doubt you will be able to handle this without one if you aren't physically present, and a lawyer will cost less then flying across the country for court appearances.

ibntumart posted:

You might want to call the clerk back and ask what the procedure is for filing an appeal. The clerk might balk at this and claim you're asking for legal advice, but make clear you just want whatever packet and forms a small claims litigant ordinarily would receive and that you would be fine with a link to the relevant small claims website.

The escrow money was $500. I certainly won't lie and I say I couldn't use the money but yeah it's not worth the cost of a plane ticket. And truth be told the other person can use it more. I really don't have a problem with her getting that money, I just don't want to end up in a situation where we find out that the judge awarded her the court fees which were a couple of hundred dollars. That and I was really taken aback that they could decide the case without notifying us.

I think what I'll do is call the court again Monday and ask that the judgment be sent to us registered mail or something so that we have in writing that we aren't paying the court fees. If they can't do that we'll start doing what we need to do for an appeal. Thanks all for the advice!

And Jan I know that this isn't what you asked but my parents were in a very similar situation with Rodgers a few years ago. They run a charity and someone ran up a huge bill using their line. They kept contacting Rogers and eventually they waved the entire bill. I don't know how far your father went with the company but being polite and escalating it as high as you can get may work?

Gleri
Mar 10, 2009

Jan posted:


I don't think anything could currently be done to change things, short of mounting a class action lawsuit. But if even law offices prefer to just pay the fees instead of protesting, I don't know how a single tangentially related and indignant individual could prepare such a case.

Should I just throw my hands in desperation at the hubris of telecom corporations and the CRTC's surgical attachment to said corporations' big fat dongs wallets?

The CRTC is one of the clearest examples of regulatory capture that you will ever find. If it ever was a proper regulator, and I doubt that, it has long since been completely taken over by the Big Three Telecoms. The best thing that you an do here is not to take legal action, it's to write to or call your MP. If you're really indignant you could go to their constituency office. I've been told that in their electoral calculus, MPs think of every person who comes to see them - and who isn't a crackpot - as representative of 1000 voters that are interested in the issue.

I'm certain that your dad, as a trained lawyer, was well aware of his legal rights. Mounting lawsuits is prohibitively expensive even in clear cases, and it's not clear here who he would sue.

El_Elegante
Jul 3, 2004

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS
Biscuit Hider
Apparently that kind of phone phreaking is being used to fund terrorist organizations, so maybe frame it as a national security issue while you're at it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/28/philippines-arrests-phone-scam-hacking

Also, most of the organizations hacked had lax security measures like default passwords, which could be how the phone company made the determination that the firm was liable for the calls placed.

jaded_daisy
Apr 28, 2007


We live in Michigan. My son is presently 19. When he was 17, he was arrested for assault and battery. He didn't touch the plantiff- a bunch of kids jumped the plantiff and he named my son as one of the assailants, even though there were several witnesses to the contrary.

It went to court, the plantiff never showed up for the hearing so the case was dismissed. As I recall, we had to go a few times and this was the last hearing before it went to trial. (I'm a bit fuzzy on what happened when.) Anyway, our lawyer said it was finished that day. We've never heard another thing about it since then.

My son had to go get a background check yesterday for a new job, he says the assault shows up as pending and so he didn't get the job. How does he go about getting this removed?

The_Angry_Turtle
Aug 2, 2007

BLARGH
Does anyone know about immigration issues?

I'm trying to find out whether I'm a Canadian citizen and am waiting for a response from the embassy but its taking a while. My mother is a Canadian citizen residing in the US and my father is an American. I supposedly had citizenship with Canada through my mother until I was 18 but now I'm not really sure where I stand. The immigration website implies that I may already be a citizen but I have no paperwork or anything else to prove it. Anyone have any idea whether I'd need to apply for citizenship status or just apply for proof of citizenship?

nm
Jan 28, 2008

"I saw Minos the Space Judge holding a golden sceptre and passing sentence upon the Martians. There he presided, and around him the noble Space Prosecutors sought the firm justice of space law."

jaded_daisy posted:

We live in Michigan. My son is presently 19. When he was 17, he was arrested for assault and battery. He didn't touch the plantiff- a bunch of kids jumped the plantiff and he named my son as one of the assailants, even though there were several witnesses to the contrary.

It went to court, the plantiff never showed up for the hearing so the case was dismissed. As I recall, we had to go a few times and this was the last hearing before it went to trial. (I'm a bit fuzzy on what happened when.) Anyway, our lawyer said it was finished that day. We've never heard another thing about it since then.

My son had to go get a background check yesterday for a new job, he says the assault shows up as pending and so he didn't get the job. How does he go about getting this removed?
He got a minute order when his case was dismissed. He needs to show that to them.
The real issue here is that cheap background checks are loving terrible and inaccurate, and they probably won't update this ever. No, really, he's hosed for life. I'd talk to an attorney about two things:
A factual innocence petition, or whatever they call it in MI. If granted, this requires the arresting department to notify everyone that your son was exonerated. This gives him an order that is much more clear about the dismissal and likely gives him a better recourse against background check companies.
Talk to them about suing the background check company. My gut tells me there's a case there somewhere, but i don't know civil. It will be expensive and the damages will be little, so it can't be a contingency case, but if you have some disposable income, someone needs to do the lead case.

Seriously, these cheap background checks are all kinds of hosed up. They are completely inaccurate. They will list arrests that never happen or dismissed cases as convictions. He should keep that dismissal paperwork with him (he can get a certified copy from the court) and bring that to employers. The ones that know how terrible the background checks are will take that.
Of course, it still sucks because it means he has to bring up an arrest he wasn't convicted for and that may be used against him.

The_Angry_Turtle posted:

Does anyone know about immigration issues?

I'm trying to find out whether I'm a Canadian citizen and am waiting for a response from the embassy but its taking a while. My mother is a Canadian citizen residing in the US and my father is an American. I supposedly had citizenship with Canada through my mother until I was 18 but now I'm not really sure where I stand. The immigration website implies that I may already be a citizen but I have no paperwork or anything else to prove it. Anyone have any idea whether I'd need to apply for citizenship status or just apply for proof of citizenship?
When were you born? Was your mother born in Canada?
If were born after 1976, you're almost certainly Canadian if your mother was a Canadian citizen born in Canada (and not born to a diplomat of a foriegn country)
This will help: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/rules-citizenship.asp
(I'm a canadian citizen this way too. Hope your mom wasn't born in quebec though, getting the birth certificate is a pain in the rear end and ay copy older than 1996 isn't valid)

nm fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Dec 4, 2011

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

jaded_daisy
Apr 28, 2007


nm posted:

He got a minute order when his case was dismissed. He needs to show that to them.
The real issue here is that cheap background checks are loving terrible and inaccurate, and they probably won't update this ever.

He had to go to the Sheriff's department to get it, the employer didn't do it. Does this make any difference?

Thanks for your advice though, I'll get my son in touch with an attorney this week.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply