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    Home Unlabelled Legal Advice - Does someone have a legal right to take a picture of my mailbox, without my consent, and sell it for profit?

    Legal Advice - Does someone have a legal right to take a picture of my mailbox, without my consent, and sell it for profit?

    December 01, 2019

    Legal Advice - Does someone have a legal right to take a picture of my mailbox, without my consent, and sell it for profit?

    Does someone have a legal right to take a picture of my mailbox, without my consent, and sell it for profit?

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 09:13 AM PST

    I have a very unique mailbox, and someone took a picture of it, along with several other unique mailboxes, and they are selling a calender made up of these pictures. They left a short note saying all of this, and offered to sell me a calender for $20. I find it strange I should have to pay someone for this calender never giving them permission to take a photo of it, and feel it's not right. I don't intend on taking any legal action, I just wonder what the legality of this situation is. At the very least, they should send me a free copy for the use of that picture.

    Maine, USA.

    submitted by /u/bpaps
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    [VA] Came back from vacation, there's a vehicle parked in my driveway, it's been there overnight. Police don't want to get involved.

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 03:52 PM PST

    So there's a vehicle parked in my driveway, but not in like a neighborly I'll only take one space way, it's a large SUV parked diagonally across a parking area that can usually accommodate 4 vehicles. I have to park on the street because of this. My neighbor is from Florida and this vehicle has Florida tags, so I thought maybe it was his, but my neighbor isn't home. Otherwise I have no idea who this vehicle could belong to. I called the police nonemergency and they told me since the vehicle is parked completely on private property, they can't do anything. They suggested talking to my neighbors or calling a tow truck. I've attempted to find the owner by knocking on my neighbors' doors I'm worried about getting in trouble if I have it towed.

    What are my options to get the vehicle removed?

    submitted by /u/AVLPedalPunk
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    My boss told me I couldn’t use my FMLA, I called HR and now my performance is constantly monitored

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 04:17 PM PST

    I have approved FMLA for my child who is disabled, I have had my FMLA approved for about 6 months now and I have been with the company for about two years. I was told by my head manager to text him whenever I needed to use it so that our other managers and employees wouldn't ask questions, and we have a written transaction. This was no issue the first few times I used it, until I attempted to use it when my child was sick and he told me that I wasn't allowed to use my FMLA for that, and I promptly contacted HR. We had a (phone) meeting with HR and I was instructed to provide no reason when using FMLA, which I have stuck with ever since the meeting, but since then my performance is increasingly brought up and I've been written up for rules that only apply to my location and my job description says nothing in regards to this rule. Not to mention that I have coworkers coming to me saying that they were told by management to watch me, and managers who have to go out of their way to run reports specifically for me. Now I'm not the best employee as far as attendance goes but my performance is top notch, I have my numbers to support that, however I have really tried to step it up in hopes of the harassment lessening to no avail.

    I have already filed a complaint with the DOL but won't have my interview with them until February and I'm being pressured more and more everyday so I'm becoming increasingly concerned for my job. Please note that I am desperately searching for another job to avoid this situation as a whole but I also feel like I'm being forced out. Is it time to get a lawyer, or do I have other options first? In TN

    submitted by /u/2019trash
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    Landlady did not transfer electricity back into her name after I moved out, so I had them shut off electricity. Now she's keeping the security deposit because of the measures she took to keep her pipes from freezing.

    Posted: 30 Nov 2019 10:39 PM PST

    I'll admit, I should have done things differently.

    I'd just let her keep the deposit to avoid having to deal with this psychopath, but the company I work for put it up and are expecting it back. I did not talk to her before shutting off the electricity for the following lengthy reason: The day we moved in, we called to ask why there were feces and urine stains in the carpet, especially since she said that professional cleaners had come by. We asked if we rented a carpet scrubber if we might be reimbursed. Initially she agreed, but called back minutes later in an emotionally charged conversation I hadn't thought to record because I didn't suspect anything amiss, about "country living." In so many words she said that if we're going to bother her with questions and concerns, she would evict us. In hindsight, that was a pretty big red flag and we probably should have just packed up and found a different place, but I had just got on with a new company after a year of unemployment, they were footing the bill for our housing, and the project I was assigned had already begun. I was desperate.

    In more recent hindsight, eviction was not a valid threat after having already vacated the property, but I had already mentally established the rule to never contact her. A full week and a half after vacating the property, I logged into my electricity provider's website to pay my bill for the now supposedly empty property and noticed that there was still significant usage--seemingly more than when we lived there. A phone call to the provider confirmed suspicions that "usage would suggest someone living there." He asked if I wanted to transfer service but I didn't know who was living there. I just said "We don't live there anymore, we're not interested in paying someone elses' bill." To which he suggested terminating service. Now, if I had known it couldn't just be turned back on right away, I wouldn't have gone that route, but here I am, having gone that route.

    I figured it might have been a day or two without lights; a mild inconvenience in protest of this absurdity. According to my livid ex-landlady who is now roping my boss into the mess, the heating system is dependent on electricity to operate. Shutting off the electricity at this time of year, in Maine, runs the risk of freezing the pipes and now she claims to have spent the better part of the deposit renting a generator for the 3 days she had to wait to have the power reestablished. Part of me doubts she even did this and I want to ask her for a copy of the receipt just because I think there's a good chance she doesn't have it, but I'm at the point now where I might not want to proceed without at least some advice. Another important detail is that I moved out on the 15th of November, shut off power on the 26th, and she says I was still responsible for the utilities through the end of the month.

    TL;DR - Moved out of a place, electricity usage suggested someone else had moved in but the bill was still in my name. I shut off service and now my ex-landlady is keeping the deposit my employer is expecting back because she had to rent a generator to keep the pipes from freezing.

    Edit: I don't know when the lease was supposed to end. I assumed it was the day I moved out, but she insists it was the end of November. The lease was very loose because I was only there for 6 months of the 12 month lease and there is nothing in it about early termination.

    Edit: Sounds like I screwed up. Thanks for everyone's input.

    Edit: Not sure why everyone is assuming that I haven't scoured the lease for answers since it all started going down. There is no definitive outline for early termination, specifically move out date in relation to end of lease. I assumed they would be the same, and assumption was my undoing.

    submitted by /u/HotcakeNinja
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    [GA] Upstairs neighbors (and kids) have caused repeated damages to our apartment due to negligence, have left trash and dumped cooking oil onto our porch, and cause an outrageous amount of noise issues. What can we do?

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 10:21 AM PST

    I'll at least make it as succinct as possible.

    We've lived here almost a year and a half, our lease runs up in July 2020. We can't leave unless we pay ~$3k, and right now we don't have that.

    These people have: - left boxes of take-out food in our chairs and thrown off their porch onto our porch area, - causes so much noise just from running around and playing (I guess?) that they startle and scare our friends who come over (as well as us of course). - had such bad jostling and rattling that it caused a glass some light fixture to fall and shatter in our tub as well as a leak due to messing with the overflow gasket in their tub, causing the ceiling to fall and water damage above ours, and caused enough of a flood in their kitchen that it basically looked like it rained in our kitchen/laundry room area (connected). - left a small dog to howl and whine for 11+ hours, as well as moving it in the later hours to howl and whine above our bedroom - as well, have left their kids (early high school and maybe middle school age?) home alone for hours and hours at times, as informed by the maintenance team that works on the units.

    (Aug-nov '18) I've had to make calls to the apartments courtesy officer, who just said "if we can't reach them, we can't do anything," meaning they attempted to call and knock, but of course they cannot barge in. I get that. After the courtesy officer somehow managed to meet with them and the management to essentially say "you guys need to keep it down," they've gone tenfold and just got worse. They know how much noise they make and have just gotten worse. Screaming matches and yelling constantly, the kids run up and down the length of the apartment constantly. Stomping and dribbling things too.

    (Sometime in '19) I've overheard screaming and thumping along with a girls voice screaming "mommy I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." So I kind of can't help but suspect there's something worse going on in there as well. I've made a case with local CPS, but haven't heard anything regarding that.

    (Three or four times in 2019) I've tried knocking to ask them to quiet down, we've left notes — they don't reply.

    (Aug '19) Eventually I got so fed up with the banging (trying to go to bed, so around 11 PM), so I called our county's non-emergency line to have someone come out. The officer arrived and knocked and knocked for around 20min, and came back to our door to tell us they asked who it was, was told it was a [county] police officer, and was told (I wish I could even make this up) "oh HELL naw." He came back to our apartment to inform us that he attempted to speak with them and got nowhere.

    (Nov 19) I called the non-emergency line again after the rattling got bad enough to cause some of our shelved items to topple off. I was told someone would come out but it would be a bit. I did not specifically hear anyone come out, and I never heard a knock on my door from an officer to follow up or anything.

    I've sent in emails (8/13 and 11/2 of '19) and called (god knows how many times) and spoken to the office management about what they can do, and their response has just been "if we can't reach them, there's nothing we can do." I get that, that's fine. But what can we do? We have just as much right to live in our home as they do, so I'm not to the point of wanting to kick them out or anything like that, but what in the world can we do to at least drive the point home that they're being obnoxious as all hell? We basically can't move out until our lease is up and they show no signs of going anywhere.

    submitted by /u/drunkardroommate
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    Job claims they literally "ran out of money" to pay employees?

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 12:36 PM PST

    (To preface, I'm posting this for someone else, and we're in Texas, USA)

    So, my bf is a server that is cashed out every day for his total tips (otherwise makes $2.13 an hour). So far, the restaurant has typically owed him 75-100 dollars per shift. Yesterday, he made about $75 total and at the end of the day when he went to tip out, the restaurant told him they were simply out of money and couldn't pay him. I don't even think they offered to put it on his next paycheck or anything. He wasn't the only employee who this happened to either. From what I've heard from him its the same situation today.

    I waited tables from 2015-2019 at a couple of different places and have never heard of something even remotely like this happening. It just seems so bizarre. I understand restaurant wage laws can be fickle, but does he have any legal standing here? If this happens again, does he have a right to walk out without getting fired? (He's currently looking for other jobs but needs to keep some sort of income for the time being) Has anyone heard of this happening?

    Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

    submitted by /u/lettuce1234567
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    Roommate let house flood without notifying anyone for a day, and the water intrusion was due to his patio drain overflowing. Need advice

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:50 PM PST

    I live in a 3 bedroom townhome in California, and there are three tenants including myself. I am on the lease with the landlords, and I sublease the other two bedrooms. when someone moves out, I find and interview a new tenant, and make them sign a lease and put a security deposit down. About a week ago, one of the tenants (we'll call him roommate A) put his 30 day notice in, which is what is required considering its a month to month lease. Roommate A and I do not get along, as we had an issue right after he moved in 4 months ago, so the relationship between him and I is more business like than friendly, which is fine. The other roommate ( we'll call him roommate B) and I are friends and have had no issues whatsoever.

    3 days after putting his 30 day notice in, I went out of town to spend thanksgiving with my family. During this time, it rained for about a day straight, starting the night before thanksgiving and ending the night of. At around 5pm thanksgiving, right before I was about to sit down for dinner with the family, I get a text from roommate B stating that the downstairs kitchen is flooded and the water is coming from the ceiling fan. So I called him, and asked him to send me videos / pictures of what was happening so I could send them to the landlords. During this conversation, he stated that when he first noticed what was happening, the roommate A came downstairs and informed him that he noticed that the water was coming out of the ceiling that morning, and was angry that his food got wet. This guy knew there was something wrong, and did nothing to try and remedy the situation nor did he contact me or the other roommate to let us know what was going on.

    So after ending that call, I called the roommate A, no answer. I then texted him asking why he didn't say anything to either of us when he first discovered the problem, and to call me immediately since his room is directly above the dining room which was being flooded. No response. I called roommate B and asked him to knock on roommate B's door and hand him the phone, which he did. After doing so, I told roommate A to go out to his balcony ( which is a private balcony that only he has access to ) and see if he sees anything. He stated in this conversation that the floor by his sliding glass door to the balcony was soaked... to which I again asked "why the hell would you not say anything??" his excuse was that it wasn't "his" problem, but rather a maintenance problem. He handed the phone back to roommate B and told him to go out and check, which is ridiculous, but he did anyways.

    Sure enough, the patio was completely flooded due to the drains being blocked. So the water pooled up on the balcony, soaked through the door and into his room, and began leaking down to the dining room, coming out of the ceiling fan. So Roommate A discovered that not only was his floor soaked in his room, but also that the water was flowing down into the dining room ceiling, and DID / SAID NOTHING. For an entire day. Once roommate B removed the debris that was covering the drains, the water flowed out and the leak subsided.

    When I spoke with the landlord on thanksgiving night, at about 6:30pm, he stated that there was nothing he could do at the time but they would come out first thing the next morning to access and fix whatever went wrong. the next day they did, and saw that the only reason this happened was due to roommate A not maintaining his balcony (sweeping the leaves and dirt that accumulated or at the very minimum making sure the drains were clear). They ended up shop vacuuming his floor for 2 hours and pulled up enough water to almost fill the shop vac. The landlord was relieved that this was the issue and stated that they would replace the ceiling fan and cut a whole in the ceiling to make sure theres not extensive damage. When they left, the maintenance guy explained that this was a result of negligence, not necessarily anything that the landlords are responsible for. He stated had the drains be maintained, or at the very least been cleared in a timely manner after first discovering they were blocked, nothing would have happened.

    So I told Roommate A that if they needed to replace the ceiling, and if they decided that a portion would be taken from the security deposit, that he would be paying for it through his deposit. The conversation didn't go well, and the guy is being extremely childish and unhelpful. My question is: what is the legal standing for negligence when it comes to the above scenario? Im assuming at the very least roommate A responsible for keeping his private balcony cleaned, since he is the only one that has access to it, and isn't there an argument that since he knew about what was going on hours before and decided not to inform anyone, does that make things worse?

    any advice would be much appreciated.

    edit: I should also add that roommate A has not paid his rent for December yet, which he normally does the morning of the 1st. if he chooses not to pay rent, what recourse do I have to remove him from the property, if any?

    submitted by /u/lucasrks10
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    [California] I believe my dad was discriminated against for his age. He received a letter from his (now) former employer explicitly stating he needs to look for a "much younger person."

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 12:57 PM PST

    My dad was looking for a job a few months ago and got an offer from a company that led him to believe he was going to train as a salesman. Then the starting date was moved about 90 days away and my dad stopped looking for a place thinking this would be full time. His offer spelled out the commission percentages and the owner included previous sales history for another salesman to show the potential. When my dad started there wasn't any training for how to sell a car and they basically just had him do some light maintenance on the vehicles they were using for the event. And when the event started he was constantly going to the boss and asking what he needed done, or just walking around finding stuff to do himself. After the auction, he had hours for working the weekend after Thanksgiving but he received the letter below the day before.

    Here is a transcript of the letter received:

    ​

    I realized I was expecting too much of your capabilities at the event. I am a very active 72 year old that goes 100mph and thinks everyone else can do the same. You are a good mechanic who works things out to make it work. I am really looking for an assistant to work close with me during the event and must look for a much younger person. Samuel is on his best behavior right now so his position is not available. Sales I don't think would be your thing anyway.

    If you would like to work the next auction as one of Ralph's crew, we would be more than happy to employ you again. Just let us know in February. If we have anything crop up and you have not found permanent employment, we will call you before the sale.

    ​

    Hoping to find out if this is worth consulting a local attorney, thanks for reading.

    submitted by /u/ScovilleReddinbocker
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    [MD] Tenant entering my bedroom without permission, cat cam picking him up

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 06:01 AM PST

    Some background info: I am 30sF, I own a home in Maryland and I am renting a bedroom to a 30sM tenant. It's a shared kitchen/bathroom/living room and separate bedrooms. I have 2 cats so I need to keep my bedroom door slightly open for them to get in/out.

    I became suspicious my tenant was entering my bedroom without my permission so I got a motion activated camera and put it on my bedside table pointing at my bedroom door. 10 minutes after I left the house the next day, I see him open my door, enter my bedroom, go to my bed to do something, and look towards the camera. Later on, he returns to close the door to the original position. I returned home and didn't mention anything.

    The next day I am home watching a movie downstairs. I moved the cam to my desk to get a better view of the door. While I am downstairs, I can now see him peeking through the door frame towards where the camera used to be. He is in full view because of the new position. He enters my room a few feet and stands there for 30ish seconds just looking around my bedroom. He again looks towards the camera in its new location.

    There are zero reasons for him to be entering my bedroom and I am afraid of escalation. The way he acts on camera, it is hard to describe just how creepy and malicious it seems.

    I don't want to confront him about entering my room because I'm afraid he will just retaliate or attack me in another room. Him just not entering my bedroom anymore is not an adequate solution for me to feel safe. I want to get him out ASAP. I have a few questions I haven't been able to answer by looking through the wiki/faq/google.

    Is this enough evidence to begin eviction?

    Is the motion activated camera legal in MD? MD is two party consent but Ring security cams seem to be legal. Is it legal to record my own bedroom?

    submitted by /u/Whocares0978
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    what to do about a loud school bell?

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 04:27 PM PST

    i dont know if this post belongs on this subreddit but anyways, the start of my street has a public school. for some reason they cant play a normal school bell that lasts for a few seconds. instead this school BLASTS BRUNO MARS' WHOLE 3 MINUTE SONG ON MAX VOLUME. yes, its that loud that it wakes me up from my sleep at 8am and when i have my headphones on i can STILL hear it from my room and i dont even live next to the school. my whole family gets irritated and screams everytime this 'bell' plays lol, i cant imagine how the people living right next to the school are coping. so, reddit, what can i do about this obnoxious bell? should i go to the school myself and complain? (i doubt theyd listen), should i complain to council? i live in Australia btw. please help me restore my lifes abandoned tranquillity.

    submitted by /u/MomMyStummyHurt
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    Disgruntled volunteer shredding tax related documents.

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 06:56 PM PST

    I work for a small 501(c)(3) arts organization in PA, USA where I am the only employee. We have a BOD, 1099 musicians and volunteers.

    Recently we had a situation where a new BOD member has taken over as chair of 2 of our largest fundraisers and she has been amazing at organizing, documenting and streamlining everything. (Before she joined everything was by the seat of our pants, those in charge relied on having done it before, everyone had their job and executed. She wants documentation so that we are covered and can better review/adjust)

    There has been one volunteer and one BOD member who have not been friendly to her now being in charge and have tried to slow her down at every step. I've run into issues with them before (same 2 people) and for some reason they do not like to share information or responsibility.

    Our President and Resources chair sent an email to the BOD and the volunteers saying we "respectfully request compliance with all informational requests" and they lost it. Apparently the word "comply" drove them nuts.

    The volunteer in question resigned, but was in charge of our "gift shop" and shredded all the documents we use to calculate sales tax to report to the state (to COMPLY) and also had mentioned she may go to the local newspaper about being "bullied, belittled and forced out."

    My question centers mostly around the destruction of tax related documents. What sort of liability is there on her part, and ours, and what can we do about it?

    In the second case it seems like it would be a simple libel suit.

    I have email documentation from the BOD member that sides with her stating that she shredded the documents.

    Any help is appreciated.

    Thanks!

    submitted by /u/Cozzie24
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    My landlord updated/resigned my lease without my knowledge.

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 11:41 AM PST

    I know something is completely wrong about this, but I don't know how to approach this situation.

    Earlier this year in May I renewed my lease. Two months later the property transferred in a new property manager. Under her I was asked by her secretary to resign my lease with updated information. Apparently she had been auditing the files from the previous property manager and realized some things did not match up with many of the leases, i.e. the names and weight of my dogs were not listed. My husband and I both thought it was weird that we would have to resign our lease just because they missed the opportunity to input information they now deem pertinent to the lease with the new property manager. We ultimately disregarded their request and carried on abiding by the original lease we signed together in May.

    Fast forward to today when I log in to the online tenant portal, I see that we now have two leases attached to the apartment where we currently live. The second one was dated two months after our original move in date. Mind you it NOW includes the information requested by the leasing office, but now it says that the lease was electronically signed by both of us. Since we denied signing the "updated" version at the property manager's request we find this very peculiar. From my understanding, if anyone in the office updated and "signed" our names electronically that is potentially grounds for forgery and a breach of contract. I live in South Carolina and have reviewed the tenant/landlord codes, but I cannot find anything that pertains to this particular situation. Hiring an attorney is very expensive, and just a consultation is several hundred dollars. I know there is something wrong with all of this. What can I do? This is such a peculiar situation. Has anyone else been through this before?

    submitted by /u/spudd_muffin
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    Can a disabled adult refuse full time care and choose to stay home alone? Without bringing legal issues on the family?

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 01:01 PM PST

    My MIL had a severe stroke about a decade ago. She is now about 60 y/o.

    She is paralyzed on one side and stays in her hospital bed at home, and needs assistance transferring to a wheelchair to go to the bathroom, and get around.

    She doesn't like to leave the bed and has refused to go to a care facility. Her family had been hiring a regular caretaker to come during the day while her husband works, and her daughter comes on weekends to care for her. She doesn't need or want much- but she can't get to a bathroom or feed herself independently.

    However, she does not like the caretakers, and recently fired the current one. She is insisting the family just leave her alone at the house all day. She wants to switch to using diapers and only eating before and after her husband gets off work. Her health has been very stable for several years, so there is not much concern for another stroke or seizures or anything like that that makes leaving her alone particularly risky. Other than that it's gross and feels mean/neglectful.

    The family is not supportive of this obviously, but they can't really afford to take off work to stay home with her.

    She really doesn't like people so I think she does truly prefer this, but I'm concerned that if her insurer, doctors, or some authority found out, her family would be in trouble for neglect/elder abuse, or she could lose her insurance or SSDI.

    What are the laws here? Are there potential consequences to this action? She is 'sound of mind' AFAIK, so she probably won't be deemed incompetent. But we just don't know anything about this.

    What should we know? Is this a dangerous situation legally? Who checks in on these things? At what point is she allowed to decide how she wants to live, considering her disability? How should the family proceed?

    Edit: my MIL lives in Colorado, USA.

    submitted by /u/disabilityandthelaw
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    Supervisors follow us into the restroom.

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 07:57 AM PST

    For a few weeks now, many of my coworkers said the same thing. "I feel like I'm being followed. Maybe I'm just being paranoid? Maybe it's coincidence." Every bathroom trip, a supervisor pops up. Our job already makes us notify our supervisors through instant message that we have to use the restroom, so they know exactly where we are going and why. I got a write up for taking longer than 10 minutes the other day. I asked my boss why he thinks it's appropriate to allow his coordinators follow us. He admitted they are told to follow us into the restroom to ensure we are not getting coffee or smoking a cigarette. This micromanaging is so intense that it feels like harassment. Can they legally follow people into the restroom? We already have so many systems in place where we are being watched, that I feel like this is overkill and should not be allowed...

    submitted by /u/FabulousHorror
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    Is it legal for an advisor to let go of their graduate student because of an episode of mental illness? [X-post from /r/academia]

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 09:59 AM PST

    This happened to one of my close relatives (let's call him X). X had an episode of psychosis without any warning and ended up in the hospital overnight. He was in a Ph.D program for a year by that point and his advisor was in general a decent person. After the news of the hospitalization reached me, I rushed to the town that X was living in to be with him and take care of him. His advisor called me to his office next day and told this straight to my face: "I am sorry, I can't keep X as my graduate student anymore. I had a student in my group in the past who had a mental illness and I was accommodating of him - and it turned out to be a mistake. I can't repeat this with X. I can keep him on RA funding until the end of the semester (which was 2 weeks away). After that, he is on his own. Please note however that this does not prevent him from applying to other faculty in the university."

    The professor's actions just seem extremely scummy to me. Is there any room for legal action? Note that the professor's actions were taken without any consultation with the doctor. Further, X was not a threat to anyone in any obvious way and had been in good standing in his research and studies.

    Before anyone asks how the prof knew about the mental illness: the prof along with X's best friend were among the first responders at the scene and it was pretty obvious to everyone there that X was having a mental health problem.

    submitted by /u/Straight-Captain
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    Can our landlord raise our rent when we already signed the lease?

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 03:40 PM PST

    Cape Girardeau, Missouri

    We live in an apartment building owned by a church, but it's managed by a local realtor. He's a nice guy, we pay our rent, he fixes our faucet, all good. We recently signed our second lease with him, for 2020. His secretary called us a few days afterward and said the church is requiring him to raise the rent by 100$ to offset the cost of the utilities. She told us we would need to add that to our rent when we came in to pay it next time. My husband is livid and said he's not going to do it since we already signed the lease for 400$ and that's what we agreed to. Do we have any recourse here? Are we allowed to not follow this?

    submitted by /u/SabbaticalSimmer
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    Unknowingly purchased phone stolen from Rent-a-center through Swappa

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 12:16 PM PST

    I purchased a Note 9 from a small electronics business through Swappa for $370. The business is located in Texas, I am located in Indiana. I paid through Paypal and received the phone a week after paying. A couple seconds after I connected the phone to my WiFi a screen popped up stating:

    This phone has been disabled because the lease agreement has expired. Please visit or contact your Rent-A-Center store at *** to arrange payment or return the device. Prior to calling, please take a moment to obtain your 15 digit phone IMEI number. Your IMEI is ***. It is also located underneath the battery of your device on a sticker.

    I called the listed number for the Rent-a-center and they confirmed that a phone with that IMEI was listed as stolen by them. They then asked me to ship it to them in Texas.

    I also contacted the seller through swappa and they said they had the information of the person that sold it to them and requested I send it back to them (also in Texas). They said they would issue a refund after that. I also requested a refund through PayPal.

    A relative has told me that I shouldn't ship it to either of them since that would be shipping stolen goods across state lines (Indiana to Texas) making it a federal crime, likely in felony territory considering that you could argue a used Note 9 is worth more than $500. They said I should go to a local small claims court and file a claim against everyone involved and leave the phone in escrow locally for the Rent-a-center to pick it up.

    What is the best approach for getting a refund without implicating myself in any crime related to this stolen phone.

    submitted by /u/litahik519
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    Dog poop/ pee in hallways of "luxury" apartment complex

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 03:15 PM PST

    TL;DR: dog poop/pee in hallway of apartment complex, reported to management 4x; no action taken on their part. What can I do as resident to put a stop to this??

    I live in a luxury apartment complex in the suburbs of DC. Over the last month or so I have found dog poop/ pee in the hallway on my floor. The first few times I wrote it off as an accident as we do live on the top floor of building and it is quite a distance to make it outside. However it has only been increasing in frequency.

    I have contacted the management office on 4 occasions now: once via telephone, once via email (I recieved no response despite my request for one) and two times in person. The second in person visit was today, after I stepped in a puddle off pee directly outside of the elevator. Each time the office has assured me action would be taken by them (emails, flyers, etc.). They have done nothing to date.

    I am a dog owner and signed a pet addendum as a part of my lease when I moved in. This contract clearly states that pets are not allowed to relieve themselves inside and/or on the property (no duh!). Doing so can result in the pet and /or resident being removed.

    I love living here and just want the issue to be resolved. I've considered going above the property manager's head to the corporate office, contacting the health department, writing reviews on Yelp as to interfere with prospective residents/ get managements attention, or posting a flyer myself.

    Any recommendations for further, effective action are greatly appreciated!!!

    submitted by /u/DuperGlue
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    Help! My roommate left me without giving me any notice and didnt pay the rent.

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 07:20 PM PST

    Like the title states, my roommate and I have a lease that we both signed together. The lease is for a year and it ends March 1st. She decided that she didn't want to live at our apartment anymore, and left without giving me any kind of notice, and took all of our belongings and I was totally blinded. She didn't pay rent for this month, and its due today. I'm going to talk to my community where we lease from tomorrow to see what they say and what my options are, and probably file a police report for our missing items. What do you think my best course of action is?

    I don't want to take her off the lease seeing as that I can take her to small claims court and sue for December's rent, but am I able to sue her for the remainder months that have yet to come? I don't think I'm going to be able to find someone who wants to rent an apartment for only 2 months. (BTW this is Florida for anyone that's wondering)

    Please help. Any advice will help. I'm a full time college student and full time worker so this just makes everything harder and more inconvenient for me.

    submitted by /u/TheBathingGrape
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    Arrested for PI for helping a friend

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 01:46 PM PST

    My friend and I pregammed for a football game I honestly don't know how much he had, but I had about a shots worth of vodka. While at the game he started to get clearly very drunk so I decided I would walk him back to his dorm. As we reach the gate the police stop us saying I cannot take him back. They then ask for my age which is 18 and if I had anything to drink.

    Since I was worried for my friend I say that I had a little. They decide to detain both of us, ask questions, and decide to call my friend and ambulance. However, they decide to arrest me, so I end up spending the night in jail, and will soon have to go to court.

    My questions are 1. I drank a little, but wasnt even drunk, also I was trying to help my friend. Is that enough for a PI charge. Note I never took any form of breathalyzer test or anything simular. Then 2. Is it possible to get the charge dismissed, and eventually expunged from my record. Finally, 3 how should I best go about the situation?

    Also since it varies by state this occurred in the state of Texas.

    submitted by /u/Oibren
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    NZ - a client had some assets uplifted by a creditor, and the gear they were hiring from me was taken with it

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 06:00 PM PST

    ETA: I'm in New Zealand.

    Some friends of mine are in business (party A) and have been having a rough time. To try to help them with it, I loaned them some equipment I personally own (they pay me a very small fee each time it gets used). This has meant they don't have to hire from others with inflexible payment terms.

    Unfortunately, one of their secured creditors (party B) has now uplifted a significant portion of the equipment that was in party A's building without regard for who owned what they took. Party B originally committed to returning anything that didn't belong to the business, to its rightful owners.

    Party B is now holding it for ransom, demanding more from the business before he will return items owned by third parties like myself.

    Questions: 1. Does the law allow secured creditors to uplift things that aren't owned by their debtor? 2. For my part in this issue, should I be contacting the Police, or a lawyer?

    submitted by /u/kellerae
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    Should I bother fighting my ticket? [Tennessee]

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:09 PM PST

    I got pulled over early Thanksgiving morning for "failing to yield to an emergency vehicle". The trooper had someone pulled over on the right and I didn't feel like it would be safe to switch lanes with all the people in the other lanes on the highway in the dark, so I slowed down and avoided the trooper instead. She decided to jump in her car and chase after me. When I pulled over, she cited me $300+. I have never been pulled over before then, let alone ticketed. I am 24 and have been driving for 5 years. I am a very careful driver and I'm really upset about this whole situation. Worse than the fine, it will apparently put 6 points against my license. Not to mention mess with my insurance rates. Tennessee law directs drivers to slow down and proceed with caution if they cannot safely switch lanes. Should I attempt to fight it?

    submitted by /u/Madame_Cheshire
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    Kicking out roommate that isn’t on the lease but won’t respond to messages

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 12:53 PM PST

    I had a friend move in - it hasn't worked out because they aren't covering their share of finances for our apartment. I need them to move out asap. I told them to look for somewhere else and they answered that isn't going to happen any time soon. They won't respond to my messages and won't come out of their room when I'm home. I've offered them to move out within two months to no response and they probably won't even start to look for a new place.

    I don't have a lease with my landlord and he doesn't have any info on my roommate situation point blank. Roommate moved in when last person moved out so nothing is on paper. My landlord is pretty hands off, he lives far off so involving him is a whole situation of its own as I just handle my apartment needs myself usually.

    I've never been in this situation - can someone help me understand what I have to do? Would I have to go a legal route? Is texting and verbally giving a roommate two months notice legal? Would I be able to change the locks after the two months? Thank you.

    submitted by /u/stupidpersonalstuff
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    Can a job make you constantly check a group chat and fire you if you dont check it constantly? FL

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 05:31 PM PST

    I was fired from a job because they had a group chat. They posted the 2 week schedule in there and I saw it. Next day they were posting someones (someone that foesnt work there) baby pictures. I scrolled up a fair bit but it was only conversations about that so I put my phone away. Next day I decide to sleep in because I had the day off. My phone was dead so I didnt charge it ir anything. A buddy shows up st my house because everyone at work was looking for me because they had changed the schedule and I didnt see it because of all the non work related things in the chat and got in trouble for it. Is this legal? And can they just make me constantly check it?

    submitted by /u/AWildCookieMonster
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    Traveling very soon, lost my passport. I am a dual-citizen, but my irresponsibility has put me in a complicated situation where I can't apply for a new passport in either country.

    Posted: 01 Dec 2019 10:34 AM PST

    To start off, I was born in Chicago but I have lived in Toronto since I was 1.5 years old (I'm 23 now) and have dual Us/Canadian citizenship. I became a citizen with my mother when I was 8 years old and I was issued a citizenship card.

    Here is where my nightmare begins. I am supposed to fly to NYC very soon (12 days), but I recently lost my Canadian Passport (yes I am stupid). I already reported it missing, but now I need to apply for a new one. To apply for a new one, I need proof of Canadian citizenship. I'm not sure what happened, but my parents can't find my citizenship card anywhere. We are moving and we expected it to turn up somewhere but it has vanished off the face of the earth. I applied for a replacement certificate, but it takes anywhere between 5-10 months to get proof of citizenship, so getting a Canadian passport seems to be out of the picture for now.

    I thought I could apply for an American passport instead since I have a birth certificate to prove my citizenship status and I had American passports in the past. I went to the US Consulate General in Toronto and I was told that they have to put my application on hold until I can provide my SSN number. I thought I didn't have one, but apparently, I do have one. I have absolutely no recollection of it at all. I do not have an SSN card and my parents barely even remember applying for one. There is no SSA office in Toronto. To apply for a replacement SSN, I must travel to the SSA office across the border but processing could take up to 10-14 days.

    So, in short: I am traveling in 12 days and conveniently lost my Canadian passport. I've also lost my proof of citizenship and do not have time to receive a new document. I have my American birth certificate, but I don't know what my SSN and do not have time to receive a new card.

    My question is, am I SOL? I've pretty much almost already accepted defeat. I have read that the US consulate can issue a temporary/emergency passport, but would I have to provide my SSN for that as well? Does Canada offer a temporary passport without proof of citizenship? Can I find my SSN on any other existing documents I might have? Do I have any other possible options?

    submitted by /u/Eyebulbs
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