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
What Fun
Jul 21, 2007

~P*R*I*D*E~
She doesn't have a boss, she has a department. I don't think we're dancing around anything. She's going to go get a copy of when the university has on record that she's supposed to be paid. With that paperwork, we can take the next step. Unfortunately, there's no person to lean on.

e: She doesn't have a pay stub, she hasn't been paid yet. It's been just about a month. She does have signed timesheets from a supervisor indicating the hours she worked.

VVVVV: That will be the process once we find out when the university, as an entity, thinks that she should be receiving her paychecks. Until we have that documentation, every person has wiggle room. She has technically graduated, but is still finishing up internship hours for her degree. We're not running up the chain until we have the papers to provide the clear case we need.

What Fun fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Jun 8, 2013

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

FrozenVent
May 1, 2009

The Boeing 737-200QC is the undisputed workhorse of the skies.
There's a person to lean on, you just haven't found them yet. First step is the guy signing her pay sheets, then the guy signing that guy's pay sheets, then... Eventually there should be a department head or director somewhere in there. Alternatively, go straight to HR or whoever handles HR issues.

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


What Fun posted:

e: She doesn't have a pay stub, she hasn't been paid yet. It's been just about a month.

Okay, this right here caught my eye. It's been "just about a month." For what it's worth, I work for a university (different state than you) and that first paycheck takes a good long while to show up, because they're basically a pay period behind. So here's a timeline:

Day 1: Hired, start working
Day 14: Payday 1! But not for you, because: Turn in timesheet 1.
Day 28: Payday 2! Turn in Timesheet 2, receive money for Timesheet 1.
Day 42: Payday 3! Turn in Timesheet 3, receive money for Timesheet 2.
...
Day 14*n: Payday n! Turn in Timesheet n, receive money for Timesheet n-1.

With that sort of timeline (not uncommon, I think?) you get a paycheck every two weeks, but your first paycheck doesn't show up for nearly a month. Are you sure this isn't the case here?

What Fun
Jul 21, 2007

~P*R*I*D*E~
She started on the fifth of last month, so I guess I meant a little over a month. That aside, I hear what you're saying, but she was originally told she'd get three equal paychecks throughout the summer. Now she's hearing from colleagues that the university is chronically late with payments, and she should "just consider it a Christmas bonus when it comes." Even if she didn't need the money that's hilarious bullshit, which is why I'm here trying to build her an iron case so she can get her money without fighting it out with someone in the administration.

e: VVVV Please read my words FrozenVent. She will have to go to someone in the administration, but not without all her ducks in a row. She's not going in there and start arguments with anyone who could conceivably influence her successfully receiving her degree. Her school is already being sued by students(unrelated issues), and people there are tense and defensive. I don't know why you are so against her getting a simple statement of when she is supposed to be paid, not everyone can go in and start raising hell against their employer. Thanks everyone else for your comments.

Alterian, as I've said, she had an agreement to get paid in three equal increments. If that's not the case, we will shortly know exactly when they think they are going to pay her.

What Fun fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Jun 8, 2013

FrozenVent
May 1, 2009

The Boeing 737-200QC is the undisputed workhorse of the skies.

What Fun posted:

trying to build her an iron case so she can get her money without fighting it out with someone in the administration.

Who is she going to fight with if not the administration?

Alterian
Jan 28, 2003

If its like the college my husband works at, even if you sort it out, they get paid the last day of the month and they don't get their first paycheck until the end of the second month, but its a double paycheck. Even if you started May 1st you wouldn't see any money until June 30th.

katkillad2
Aug 30, 2004

Awake and unreal, off to nowhere

blarzgh posted:

In my state, Small Claims Court is for disputes less than $10,000.00, so I would assume your situation would fall there as well.

Except, why would you take them to small claims court? They don't owe you anything do they? If they wanted to collect, they would either keep asking you themselves, submit the claim to their collection agency and have them ask you to pay, or go to small claims court in Ohio and sue you.

Consumer Credit Goons: Am I right that claim or dispute not involving the extension of credit or a secured claim wouldn't be submit-able to credit reporting agencies? A contract or money had/quantum meruit dispute like the above can't show up on your credit report, I wouldn't think?

Thats a consideration

Thanks for the response. I guess that's part of the reason why i'm asking. Yes they don't owe me anything and it is I that owe them and the check is in the mail with tracking info so I know they get it this time. I'm just not willing to pay more than what I owe. The letter they sent said "pay x amount by x date, if not then pay a substantial amount more". I don't know where they came up with the figure, presumably lost interest on that money but that would be a hell of a lot of interest.

If I can't get this resolved through their HR, the only reason I came up with the small claims idea is because I know i'll probably spend more than $1300 if I had to get a lawyer involved. But yea, I don't know if I can use small claims to absolve a debt rather than collect.

You hit on what my primary concern is, after nearly destroying my credit while in college i've been incident free for years and most jobs I apply for will require a credit check so having "owes previous employer money" regardless if it's legit or not on a credit check would probably keep me jobless. ( Although if I understand correctly, I could dispute that prior to a potential job credit check and it is temporarily removed...but still. )

Scientastic
Mar 1, 2010

TRULY scientastic.
🔬🍒


I recently moved to Florida from Britain, and my wife wants to sign our son up for a baby gymnastics class (basically a load of toddlers mucking about in a padded room). However, the company have a rather scary looking indemnity form, in which we would be signing away the right to sue them if they injure our son. I am reasonably convinced that any contract in which you sign away basic rights isn't worth the paper it's printed on, but we want to make sure that this isn't just a British rule...


Here are a couple choice excerpts for people who don't want to read the whole thing:

I fully understand that this Activity involves risks of serious bodily injury ... which may be caused by my own actions ... or the negligence of the "releases" names below; and that there may be other risks either not known to me or not readily foreseeable at this time: and I fully accept and assume all such risks and all responsibility for losses, cost, and damages I incur as a result of my participation in this Activity.

I hereby Release, discharge, covenant not to sue and AGREE TO INDEMNIFY AND SAVE AND HOLD HARMLESS each of the Releases from all liability, claims, demands, losses or damages on the minor's account caused or alleged to have been caused in whole or in part by the negligence of the Releases


As far as I understand it, I cannot sign away the right to hold someone responsible for harm caused by their negligence. Is that correct?

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."
Basically you're agreeing to that, but theres generally about 12 thousand ways around those standard waivers.
They're really standard and really only add a couple hours to most lawsuits.

(I haven't read that waiver and am not advising you that this is the case here. Just generally that is often true with waivers in the US.)

white sauce
Apr 29, 2012

by R. Guyovich
Does anyone here know about immigration law? I want to bring my spouse to the States but I have so many issues we think it's going to be impossible :smith:

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

My girlfriend's father got into a car accident last week while driving through a small town in Ontario- another driver ran a red light at an intersection and t-boned him.

An elderly couple witnessed the accident and helped gf's father out of his car. When the cops showed up and the other driver found out he was going to be getting the ticket, he called 3 friends that were at a bar close by and they claimed to have seen the accident so both my gf's father and the other driver are getting tickets (for some reason?).

Anyway, it only took a couple days for the insurance companies to get the story straightened out. My girlfriend's father heard back from his company that a check was in the mail for his truck (which he bought last summer) and that if he had any health related problems from the accident to be in contact with them.

On Friday my girlfriend's mother received a call from someone claiming to be from the other driver's insurance company. They told her that a certified package containing the other driver's claim was being sent in the mail, and it was gf's father's responsibility to accept the package and bring it to his insurance company.

Apparently during the conversation the guy on the phone was pretty unprofessional and made some rude comments, as well as ending the phone call with "have a nice life, lady", which made her think that it was actually the other driver posing as his insurance company.

My question: What could be this guy's play here? Obviously whatever this guy is sending will be refused, and gf's father's insurance company has been informed, but I cannot fathom what he hopes to gain from this.

FrozenVent
May 1, 2009

The Boeing 737-200QC is the undisputed workhorse of the skies.
I'm betting sovereign citizen or something kooky like that. Calling someone to tell them they HAVE to accept something is pretty :laugh:, I'm pretty sure grown ups just have someone formally served...

I'm not a lawyer, but I'd let the insurance company handle it. They have lawyers.

Professor Shark
May 22, 2012

Oh yeah, the insurance company got the call about it, I was just curious as to what the hell this guy may be trying to pull.

Kalman
Jan 17, 2010

Tight Booty Shorts posted:

Does anyone here know about immigration law? I want to bring my spouse to the States but I have so many issues we think it's going to be impossible :smith:

Get a real immigration lawyer. You need actual advice, specific to your situation and details.

Ashcans
Jan 2, 2006

Let's do the space-time warp again!

Tight Booty Shorts posted:

Does anyone here know about immigration law? I want to bring my spouse to the States but I have so many issues we think it's going to be impossible :smith:
I am not an immigration lawyer, but I have worked in immigration firms for several years and I could answer most questions about procedure or paperwork. So like, if you are overwhelmed by the options and just need help understanding how the process works, I could certainly help with that. However, if you understand what you are supposed to do but you're concerned/running into problems because you're homeless and unemployed and your spouse is a former Nazi bigamist who intends to engage in espionage, the answer is always...

Kalman posted:

Get a real immigration lawyer. You need actual advice, specific to your situation and details.
This 100%. A consultation with an attorney is a tiny investment for what is basically letting you live the rest of your life. Set up some consultations, talk to attorneys, and pick one that you trust. Many immigration lawyers work on a flat-fee basis, especially if your case doesn't actually involve spending tons of time in court. Also, it is always cheaper to hire someone at the beginning to work it out for you rather than screw it up and have to hire someone when it's in freefall to fix it.

Queen Elizatits
May 3, 2005

Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

Tight Booty Shorts posted:

Does anyone here know about immigration law? I want to bring my spouse to the States but I have so many issues we think it's going to be impossible :smith:

I went through immigration into the US and being a nosey person I had a quick look at your post history. You need an immigration attorney, no one can help you over the internet with the type of issues I am assuming you are dealing with.

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

I live in NE, apartment building with over 240 units. Have found roaches in my apartment a couple times over the last 2 to 3 weeks. Is this an insane thing to break a lease over? Management sprays no more frequently than monthly, and never more than 2 to 3 floors at a time. It's a joke.

I'm on a yearly lease that terminates August July 31, but 60-day notice clause means I had to give written notice June 1 if I wanted to move. Current lease and lease for next term don't allow for early termination, just a mess of subletting fees and continuing to be on the hook for the full lease term.

My only other option is to go month to month for the next term, which is too drat much for this apartment WITHOUT roaches.

E: to clarify, I mean breaking the lease without penalty. Of course you can break one at any time, but there are consequences.

E2: VVV realistically it would take me a month or two to find a new place/get a deposit together, so I'd be looking at the end of August. This place is one of those management companies so it's unlikely they'll accept late notice if it means they can milk a few hundred dollars out of someone.

BonerGhost fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Jun 9, 2013

FrozenVent
May 1, 2009

The Boeing 737-200QC is the undisputed workhorse of the skies.
Have you tried contacting management to see if they'd accept your 60 days notice late? Always worth a try.

urnisme
Dec 24, 2011

NancyPants posted:

I live in NE, apartment building with over 240 units. Have found roaches in my apartment a couple times over the last 2 to 3 weeks. Is this an insane thing to break a lease over? Management sprays no more frequently than monthly, and never more than 2 to 3 floors at a time. It's a joke.

I'm on a yearly lease that terminates August 31, but 60-day notice clause means I had to give written notice June 1 if I wanted to move. Current lease and lease for next term don't allow for early termination, just a mess of subletting fees and continuing to be on the hook for the full lease term.

My only other option is to go month to month for the next term, which is too drat much for this apartment WITHOUT roaches.

E: to clarify, I mean breaking the lease without penalty. Of course you can break one at any time, but there are consequences.

E2: VVV realistically it would take me a month or two to find a new place/get a deposit together, so I'd be looking at the end of August. This place is one of those management companies so it's unlikely they'll accept late notice if it means they can milk a few hundred dollars out of someone.

If by "found roaches in my apartment" you mean that you've seen a roach once or twice in the last 2-3 weeks, yes, that's an insane thing to break a lease over. If your apartment is infested and your landlord refuses to treat the infestation, that situation is a good reason to terminate your lease. In Nebraska, you do that with a 14-day/30-day notice - you can find more information about Nebraska renter's rights at http://www.tenantservices.org

You're not too late to give your notice for the end of the lease term, though. If your term ends August 31, you would have to give notice at least 60 days before that, which would be July 2. That would be the simplest way to get out of there. If you're in Lincoln or Omaha, there is a local minimum housing code that governs the landlord's extermination of insect infestations, so calling the city would be another way to make sure your landlord is properly treating the roach issue.

Pit of Despair
Feb 1, 2008

One mother held her baby's face to the floor and chewed off his feet and fingers.
All right, I've looked over the internet and am still pretty confused as to what I can do in my current circumstances, and would like some of you law goons to explain things to me in hopefully a manner my atrophied internet brain can decipher. Any and all help would be appreciated because I have a bunch of advice and no way to verify if it's even good.

So as to not turn this into an E/N thread, long story short: I no longer wish to have contact with my birth family. They went kind of crazy, out of nowhere, and have slid from "What the gently caress is your problem?" to full-on delusional in an alarmingly short amount of time. To give you a broad idea of what I'm talking about, they recently called child protective services on me (and, yes, all charges were found to be completely baseless and eventually dropped).

What I've done is, after a lengthy bout of arguing (over Facebook because these are classy motherfuckers), I've informed them that I don't want to talk to them anymore. Or thought I did; after reading it, I was obviously upset at the time, and it's not very clear what I meant. Anyway, about once or twice a month they decide to carry on a week long campaign to harass and berate me over email and my phone, and then slink back into the shadows again. I want to know what my options are here, and I have a lot of advice and no idea if any of it's accurate.

I've firstly been told I just need to tell them "No, leave me alone" and then follow up with a cease and desist letter. Someone else said a C&D is all I really need. And then a Google search tells me that a C&D letter doesn't really mean a damned thing unless it comes from a lawyer, even though anyone can send one. Also, I don't know if this even constitutes harassment, as I admit I wasn't too terribly clear that I want them to leave me the hell alone. If it helps, though, after the initial Facebook breakdown, I haven't replied to a single one of their messages or emails, and have obviously blocked them on my Facebook.

What are my options? How do I go about getting some goddamned peace back in my life?

Oh, almost forgot. I live in northern Nevada.

xxEightxx
Mar 5, 2010

Oh, it's true. You are Brock Landers!
Salad Prong

Pit of Despair posted:

All right, I've looked over the internet and am still pretty confused as to what I can do in my current circumstances, and would like some of you law goons to explain things to me in hopefully a manner my atrophied internet brain can decipher. Any and all help would be appreciated because I have a bunch of advice and no way to verify if it's even good.

So as to not turn this into an E/N thread, long story short: I no longer wish to have contact with my birth family. They went kind of crazy, out of nowhere, and have slid from "What the gently caress is your problem?" to full-on delusional in an alarmingly short amount of time. To give you a broad idea of what I'm talking about, they recently called child protective services on me (and, yes, all charges were found to be completely baseless and eventually dropped).

What I've done is, after a lengthy bout of arguing (over Facebook because these are classy motherfuckers), I've informed them that I don't want to talk to them anymore. Or thought I did; after reading it, I was obviously upset at the time, and it's not very clear what I meant. Anyway, about once or twice a month they decide to carry on a week long campaign to harass and berate me over email and my phone, and then slink back into the shadows again. I want to know what my options are here, and I have a lot of advice and no idea if any of it's accurate.

I've firstly been told I just need to tell them "No, leave me alone" and then follow up with a cease and desist letter. Someone else said a C&D is all I really need. And then a Google search tells me that a C&D letter doesn't really mean a damned thing unless it comes from a lawyer, even though anyone can send one. Also, I don't know if this even constitutes harassment, as I admit I wasn't too terribly clear that I want them to leave me the hell alone. If it helps, though, after the initial Facebook breakdown, I haven't replied to a single one of their messages or emails, and have obviously blocked them on my Facebook.

What are my options? How do I go about getting some goddamned peace back in my life?

Oh, almost forgot. I live in northern Nevada.

Document everything, get a restraining order. Change your phone number, get a new email.

patentmagus
May 19, 2013

Pit of Despair posted:

All right, I've looked over the internet and am still pretty confused as to what I can do in my current circumstances, and would like some of you law goons to explain things to me in hopefully a manner my atrophied internet brain can decipher. Any and all help would be appreciated because I have a bunch of advice and no way to verify if it's even good.

So as to not turn this into an E/N thread, long story short: I no longer wish to have contact with my birth family. They went kind of crazy, out of nowhere, and have slid from "What the gently caress is your problem?" to full-on delusional in an alarmingly short amount of time. To give you a broad idea of what I'm talking about, they recently called child protective services on me (and, yes, all charges were found to be completely baseless and eventually dropped).

What I've done is, after a lengthy bout of arguing (over Facebook because these are classy motherfuckers), I've informed them that I don't want to talk to them anymore. Or thought I did; after reading it, I was obviously upset at the time, and it's not very clear what I meant. Anyway, about once or twice a month they decide to carry on a week long campaign to harass and berate me over email and my phone, and then slink back into the shadows again. I want to know what my options are here, and I have a lot of advice and no idea if any of it's accurate.

I've firstly been told I just need to tell them "No, leave me alone" and then follow up with a cease and desist letter. Someone else said a C&D is all I really need. And then a Google search tells me that a C&D letter doesn't really mean a damned thing unless it comes from a lawyer, even though anyone can send one. Also, I don't know if this even constitutes harassment, as I admit I wasn't too terribly clear that I want them to leave me the hell alone. If it helps, though, after the initial Facebook breakdown, I haven't replied to a single one of their messages or emails, and have obviously blocked them on my Facebook.

What are my options? How do I go about getting some goddamned peace back in my life?

Oh, almost forgot. I live in northern Nevada.

A C&D from a lawyer gets more attention, but is equally meaningful as anyone else'.

From your OP, it sounds like you've taken the right steps to begin getting peace in your life. You've quit engaging. Keep it that way. It seems a little silly to get a restraining order so you don't have to delete emails and hang up the phone. If you're not sure if it's harassment then it probably isn't.

If you really want a restraining order then a decent lawyer can get you one. If you're goal really is to get peace in your life then you're money might be better spent on a therapist.

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

I am not seeing any criminality, but I don't know NV law. People are allowed to talk to other people. Maybe get a NV family law attorney but I am not seeing much. Otherwise, you'll have to use social skills and strategies.

Human Tornada
Mar 4, 2005

I been wantin to see a honkey dance.

Pit of Despair posted:

What are my options? How do I go about getting some goddamned peace back in my life?

Oh, almost forgot. I live in northern Nevada.

Not legal advice (obviously), but the best thing you can do is ignore them completely.

Eventually everyone will tire of harassing someone when they get nothing in response, but one little slip up, no matter how insignificant, even if it's just a quick "gently caress off", and their months of harassment have paid off and the clock resets.

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

I should say I have had a client with a similar situation, but the differences being his crazy* dad was contacting him and his dad has a huge history of violence and domestic violence and was writing things like "I am going to find you."

* literally crazy.

BonerGhost
Mar 9, 2007

Make technology work for you. With Gmail it is very easy to make filters that cause messages to hit the trash before you even see them, and most smart phones allow for number blocking. It's much easier to resist their attempts to engage you when you don't even see the attempt. Granted it doesn't stop them from using other numbers and new emails to mess with you, but it's an option if you can't change for some reason.

If you don't already use Gmail, get an account and use POP forwarding to take advantage of those functions. Restructure your Facebook contacts so you won't see the fuckers; even if you have to remove friends from fb, you can still contact them through other means if it means not coming into contact with the family. Make it easier on yourself.

Venetir
May 19, 2009
Hey everyone! I have a question about presenting evidence in small claims court. I'm suing my ex-landlord over a whole slew of things. A great deal of evidence supporting my case is in the form of e-mails between the landlord and myself. I'm suing over a number of things we discussed, and due to the incoherent nature of my landlord, conversations about various things appear in replies to several different e-mails. For example, he was to replace some electronics damaged due to his negligence and he responds to this first in the e-mail about those electronics and again in another e-mail about sewage backing up into my apartment. Anyone reading the e-mails would have to read both for it to make any sense and we have a TON of e-mail. How should I present all of this so the judge's head doesn't explode? Should I compile the pertinent parts of each e-mail conversation into a document related to each separate point over which I'm suing him? If I do, should I provide another copy of the e-mails in their original, somewhat incoherent format?

I also received some text messages from the landlord I'd like to use as evidence. I have them backed up to my g-mail account. How exactly should that be presented?

Lastly, the paperwork we have here in good ole Idaho doesn't really provide a way to give a detailed description of the nature of our grievance. I know that's the point of the court hearing; however, should I also write up a short summary of what I'm suing for, what makes me feel justified in doing so, and references as to which parts of the evidence back up each point?

Thanks in advance! I had to ask some questions awhile back and your advice was invaluable.

Pit of Despair
Feb 1, 2008

One mother held her baby's face to the floor and chewed off his feet and fingers.
Thanks for all the help!

The reason I was even looking for a C&D letter in the first place is that my wife frequents this other forum, and it's their go-to answer for everything. The way they tossed it around as a way to fix pretty much every bad thing in their life (aside from just straight-up moving) made me think that maybe they had no idea what they were talking about.

Glad to know I'm on the right track, then. Probably won't get a restraining order yet, since it'll be easier to convince a judge it's necessary if things escalate. What I'll probably do is make a filter in my email so the messages automatically go into some folder titled "Evidence" or something, so that way I'm not bugged by them but I have documentation in case things get out of hand.

Just wanted to say I appreciated the advice, though. You guys even gave me really good nonlegal advice, even though that's not even what this thread is for. This forum is great. :)

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


If I wanted to hold a little members-only poker tournament for a club I'm in (as-of-yet unincorporated, so just a gathering of friends) as a benefit for our club (say, house takes some percentage, winner takes the rest), am I okay to do so? Like I said, our group (makerspace) is currently unincorporated, and at this point, I honestly don't know if we're going to end up as non-profit or LLC or what, so I don't know how much that matters.

Granted, we could just keep it on the down-low and mark the house take as an "anonymous donation," but I want to do my best to keep everything above-board and proper. As I understand it, gambling in general can be a bit sticky. Jurisdiction is Erie County in PA.

Large Hardon Collider
Nov 28, 2005


PARADOL EX FAN CLUB
From the goon cave thread:

Apparently my lease required 60 days notice that we weren't going to renew. The landlord is withholding the security deposit on the grounds that we didn't tell her that we wouldn't renew. Is this legal in Massachusetts?

Additional info: I moved out of state and got a subletter without telling the landlord, who found mail addressed to the subletter. My old roommate also left some things in the apartment, including that mail.

Dogen
May 5, 2002

Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride

Large Hardon Collider posted:

From the goon cave thread:

Apparently my lease required 60 days notice that we weren't going to renew. The landlord is withholding the security deposit on the grounds that we didn't tell her that we wouldn't renew. Is this legal in Massachusetts?

Additional info: I moved out of state and got a subletter without telling the landlord, who found mail addressed to the subletter. My old roommate also left some things in the apartment, including that mail.

I don't know about MA but in TX you are obligated to pay the month-to-month amount for the time after your lease ends if you haven't given notice. Usually they'll settle for less here, sounds like your landlord is willing to settle for what is most likely much less than two months of month-to-month. Read things that you sign in the future.

This advice is not based on your state law, I am not your lawyer etc.

Leif.
Mar 27, 2005

Son of the Defender
Formerly Diplomaticus/SWATJester

Bad Munki posted:

If I wanted to hold a little members-only poker tournament for a club I'm in (as-of-yet unincorporated, so just a gathering of friends) as a benefit for our club (say, house takes some percentage, winner takes the rest), am I okay to do so? Like I said, our group (makerspace) is currently unincorporated, and at this point, I honestly don't know if we're going to end up as non-profit or LLC or what, so I don't know how much that matters.

Granted, we could just keep it on the down-low and mark the house take as an "anonymous donation," but I want to do my best to keep everything above-board and proper. As I understand it, gambling in general can be a bit sticky. Jurisdiction is Erie County in PA.

You will have to look up your state's gaming laws. They vary fairly widely on these sort of thing, especially if they allow (but regulate) casino gaming. Often they allow small scale games like this, but require that it be done for a registered veteran's service organization, or other charity or religious tax-exempt org (like a Knights of Columbus or something).

Just fly under the radar like everyone else* and understand that the more times you do it, and the more regular you make it, and the more people who know, the greater the risk.

*I'm not actually advising you to do this, I'm just saying.

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

Bad Munki posted:

If I wanted to hold a little members-only poker tournament for a club I'm in (as-of-yet unincorporated, so just a gathering of friends) as a benefit for our club (say, house takes some percentage, winner takes the rest), am I okay to do so? Like I said, our group (makerspace) is currently unincorporated, and at this point, I honestly don't know if we're going to end up as non-profit or LLC or what, so I don't know how much that matters.

Granted, we could just keep it on the down-low and mark the house take as an "anonymous donation," but I want to do my best to keep everything above-board and proper. As I understand it, gambling in general can be a bit sticky. Jurisdiction is Erie County in PA.

Finally a topic I know a lot about!

Here is your best bet. http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/small_games_of_chance/14500

Obviously, as you know, you can't operate an unlicensed casino.

flakeloaf
Feb 26, 2003

Still better than android clock

Bad Munki posted:

If I wanted to hold a little members-only poker tournament for a club I'm in (as-of-yet unincorporated, so just a gathering of friends) as a benefit for our club (say, house takes some percentage, winner takes the rest), am I okay to do so? Like I said, our group (makerspace) is currently unincorporated, and at this point, I honestly don't know if we're going to end up as non-profit or LLC or what, so I don't know how much that matters.

Granted, we could just keep it on the down-low and mark the house take as an "anonymous donation," but I want to do my best to keep everything above-board and proper. As I understand it, gambling in general can be a bit sticky. Jurisdiction is Erie County in PA.

Keep it to your friends.

KEEP IT.
TO.
YOUR.
loving.
FRIENDS.

Three good reasons for this: First, people who lose money tend to get grouchy and may decide to reclaim their winnings somehow. Second, people you don't know are really bad at keeping secrets and you will come to the attention of a regulatory agency sooner or later, especially if these people become grouchy because you and your buddies cleaned them out. Third, it may be that there is a Legitimate Businessmen's Association somewhere in your immediate area that may decide it would like to participate in your game with a few slight modifications to your hierarchy.

I have a friend who made these same mistakes with a little poker game that turned into a big poker game that turned into no poker game. Thankfully he managed to avoid any serious trouble but it was kinda tense there for a few days.

flakeloaf fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Jun 11, 2013

Happy Thread
Jul 10, 2005

by Fluffdaddy
Plaster Town Cop
All right folks, my timeline for researching law on my fraudster landlord situation just became a lot more rushed. Rent was due 10 days ago and yesterday my landlord delivered me a "3 day notice to pay rent or quit". Obviously, I don't want an eviction proceeding marring my credit history and making it impossible to get new apartments.

Now time is short and I gotta think fast.

I've always paid rent up to this point, so here's what's stopping me now: Thus far I've paid rent to the original owner of the house / illegal slum hotel / whatever it technically is. Since he's quietly foreclosed and sold the house from under us, this is the first payment that would go to the "new owner". The old owner and new owner are obviously the same party and have an arrangement that is very suspicious, and it's clear the money is still going to end up in the same hands regardless of whose name is on the check, with one difference: The new owner is not the one that all of us tenants are about to sue. Any money I pay to him is, I presume, gone forever, without the same chance of recovery.

So, help me decide, because I only have one day: Do I pay the new owner $800 plus $60 late fee to ensure my credit stays safe, or not? Is their threat credible even in light of:

  • I have signed no contract with the new owner (other than whatever automatic transfer of terms of old leases happens during sales)

  • I have received no letters or official documents from the new owner about the ownership transfer; just notices to quit.

  • The rental arrangement was illegal to begin with (being technically a hotel on a single-family zoned property, complete with missing building permits and unregistered additions), and again, I've received a flyer from the city claiming 100% rent reimbursement from him is possible

  • The old owner wants to deliver the check himself, since he has been protecting all of the new owner's contact information (I have his address anyway, because it was on a security deposit check someone got back)

  • Also never received / posted: City notice of trustee sale, statement of tenants rights (supposed to accompany the notice of sale)

  • He's been renting it out to us under false pretenses, forgoing to tell us about the impending foreclosure (he let us keep renewing month to month leases under the guise that it wasn't about to foreclose / sell, which he lied about whenever asked)

  • Numerous habitability and safety issues the place has always had, like black mold. Although at this point, sending a certified demand letter would be almost silly since the house is sold and he wouldn't have time to repair them by the time we were ordered to move out, plus a letter wouldn't get to him by the end of my 3-day-notice.
So can these guys really damage my credit by successfully starting eviction, or would they not get far enough before the illegality of it all backfired on them? Are they bluffing or do I need to pay $860 by tomorrow that I'll likely never see again?

Help!

Happy Thread fucked around with this message at 19:29 on Jun 11, 2013

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

Erie is quite close to a Mob Capital so it is possible he may get some unwanted attention.

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


Just to be clear, this wasn't intended to be a regular thing (really just a one-off or a once-in-a-while-off) and a group of like 10 people at most.

Anyhow, as I suspected, it's just not something I think we want to get legally/financially involved with. And from that link up there about "small games of chance," poker isn't even included. Looks like we could do raffles and such, if/when we decide to incorporate as a non-profit/charity. This is why we're strongly considering going with a tried-and-true 501c3 fiscal sponsor for our group that handles other groups exactly like us: we can literally just call them up and say, "Is this okay? Is that okay? What about other thing?" and they'll tell us whether we're allowed to do it, and what hoops we have to jump through with the IRS and other authorities.

So yeah, for now, I'll just leave it alone, thanks. :)

euphronius posted:

Erie is quite close to a Mob Capital so it is possible he may get some unwanted attention.
Rumor has it that the mall was originally mob owned/operated or something, and was intentionally shaped like a gun pointed at the center of Erie. :v:

Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Jun 11, 2013

Ham Equity
Apr 16, 2013

i hosted a great goon meet and all i got was this lousy avatar
Grimey Drawer

Venetir posted:

Hey everyone! I have a question about presenting evidence in small claims court. I'm suing my ex-landlord over a whole slew of things. A great deal of evidence supporting my case is in the form of e-mails between the landlord and myself. I'm suing over a number of things we discussed, and due to the incoherent nature of my landlord, conversations about various things appear in replies to several different e-mails. For example, he was to replace some electronics damaged due to his negligence and he responds to this first in the e-mail about those electronics and again in another e-mail about sewage backing up into my apartment. Anyone reading the e-mails would have to read both for it to make any sense and we have a TON of e-mail. How should I present all of this so the judge's head doesn't explode? Should I compile the pertinent parts of each e-mail conversation into a document related to each separate point over which I'm suing him? If I do, should I provide another copy of the e-mails in their original, somewhat incoherent format?

I also received some text messages from the landlord I'd like to use as evidence. I have them backed up to my g-mail account. How exactly should that be presented?

Lastly, the paperwork we have here in good ole Idaho doesn't really provide a way to give a detailed description of the nature of our grievance. I know that's the point of the court hearing; however, should I also write up a short summary of what I'm suing for, what makes me feel justified in doing so, and references as to which parts of the evidence back up each point?

Thanks in advance! I had to ask some questions awhile back and your advice was invaluable.
Not a lawyer, but I organize poo poo for lawyers, and here is how I would do this (it's labor-intensive, but is probably your best bet for an organized presentation):

Take a binder and a bunch of tabs. Take all of the emails, and label them (in chronological order). Now, depending on how many emails there are, you can either tab them individually to make them really easy to reference, or put together a table of contents that tells you what page each email starts on and have that be one tab. Then, for each issue do what you're talking about where you compile all pertinent portions of each conversation, and tag each pertinent portion to the appropriate email.

I would do the same thing with text messages.

Like I said, labor-intensive (especially if you tab every email), but you're going to be able to illustrate exactly what you're talking about. Out of curiousity, when you say "a TON of email," do you mean, like, fifty, or, like, five hundred?

There's a very good possibility I'm going to be filing suit against my old landlord next week, so I've actually been thinking about how to present the same thing (though I only have about twenty emails).

euphronius
Feb 18, 2009

The PA Department of Revenue is a bigger issue to you than the IRS.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


euphronius posted:

The PA Department of Revenue is a bigger issue to you than the IRS.

Yeah, I wasn't pretending they don't exist by not mentioning them or anything, I just use "IRS" as "we're making note of all the people that like to know about our money." But yeah, just gonna leave it all alone, I think that'll be for the best. :)

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