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Alaemon posted:Check the bar association webpage for the county in which you live, for one thing. Many of them have links to lawyers, frequently with areas of practice listed. Awesome, I didn't even think to check out the bar association website. Thanks for the information and advice!
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# ? Sep 7, 2011 03:45 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 06:48 |
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Any other opinions on this?Jose Cuervo posted:I was invloved in an accident while riding my cycle (Raleigh, NC). I am in the process of looking for a lawyer to see if I have a case against the person in the car. From what I have read, most lawyers will take my case only if they feel like they can win, and will do so on a contingency fee (1/3 of the money won is typical from what I have read). I would like to know the following:
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# ? Sep 8, 2011 03:05 |
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Jose Cuervo posted:Any other opinions on this?
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# ? Sep 8, 2011 04:30 |
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Last night I had to go to the emergency room for an allergic reaction to whatever is in/around my new apartment. I've been on the landlord's case about mold for over a month now and even threatened to break the lease. He came over with some repair people, painted over it, and took pictures in preparation for some kind of litigation and told me he wouldn't voluntarily dissolve the lease without involving the courts. I've spoken to the student legal aid lawyer and he told me to tighten up the causality, but that was before my ER visit. What are my options now, since I really don't feel it is safe to stay in here for much longer?
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# ? Sep 8, 2011 14:34 |
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Peven Stan posted:Last night I had to go to the emergency room for an allergic reaction to whatever is in/around my new apartment. I've been on the landlord's case about mold for over a month now and even threatened to break the lease. He came over with some repair people, painted over it, and took pictures in preparation for some kind of litigation and told me he wouldn't voluntarily dissolve the lease without involving the courts. I'm not a lawyer but I've rented a lot and have landed in the ER because of a moldy room. Your state and the language in your lease are important here. Mold is a serious enough issue that there are going to be tenant laws and a section in your lease discussing it. You're probably going to need to send them a certified letter telling them to fix the issue and then have a professional test done to show that it's still around.
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# ? Sep 8, 2011 16:34 |
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Silly question, I hope this is the best place to ask it. Glen Echo Park in MD recently posted new photography guidelines for shooting commercial photos in their park. As someone involved with a person trying to make a living with photography (portrait/wedding/engagement), I'm trying to figure out if Glen Echo's policies conflict with the National Park Services guidelines. According to their site, "The fact that the photographer is conducting business in the Park makes it a commercial shoot as defined by National Park Service permit regulations." However, if you then visit nps.gov (specifically this page): quote:Still photographers require a permit when With the exception of the word "model(s)," if you're taking professional photographs of people in "open the the public" areas of the park that doesn't require monitoring, would you still require a permit? Would "model(s)" apply to people whom you paid to be a part of the shoot, or simply those who hired the photographer?
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# ? Sep 8, 2011 19:32 |
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Peven Stan posted:Last night I had to go to the emergency room for an allergic reaction to whatever is in/around my new apartment. I've been on the landlord's case about mold for over a month now and even threatened to break the lease. He came over with some repair people, painted over it, and took pictures in preparation for some kind of litigation and told me he wouldn't voluntarily dissolve the lease without involving the courts. You should talk with the student aid lawyer again asap.
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# ? Sep 8, 2011 19:50 |
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Hypothetical question: Someone downloads a copyrighted song without authorization. The individual is then notified by the RIAA of copyright infringement with intent to sue. They then delete the song. Assuming the deletion could be proved, could that be constructed as obstruction of justice, or do the courts need to be involved before the deletion is considered obstruction of justice? Can obstruction of justice be applied in civil cases?
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# ? Sep 8, 2011 22:21 |
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Melting Eggs posted:Hypothetical question:
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 01:16 |
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gvibes posted:In the civil context, it is referred to as spoliation, and yeah, it would probably apply in this case. Courts don't need to be involved, there just needs to be some sort of likelihood of litigation or something like that (not sure of the exact standard). Once there is that likelihood of litigation, you have to preserve relevant poo poo. To add to this, the outcome of spoilation depends on the jurisdiction. Where I am, the result is that an adverse inference is made by the court (e.g., the court assumes that the evidence was negative to your case). I think in some jurisdictions there are actually penalties involved, but that's outside anything I've dealt with.
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 01:22 |
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New York State - Kings County - Landlord/Tenant On the second year of an August 31st lease in a 2 bedroom apartment, I was contacted on July 1st about whether I would like to renew. On July 27th, I responded that I would like to renew the lease with a new roommate (call him Dos). We began the proceedings to renew the lease. My potential new roommate searched through the apartment and we agreed there were multiple serious issues (mold, window grates that posed a fire hazard) with the apartment that needed to be addressed. On August 15th, we emailed the full list of terms to see if the management company found them agreeable. Management called on August 26th and told me that they had agreed to our terms. I was told they would prefer to rip off the window grates instead of replacing them with ones that opened from the inside. But that they'd do the latter if we placed another work order. Dos asserted over the phone that he would prefer ones which opened. On August 31st, the final day of the lease, I called management to complain about a few issues that arose from the initial lease signing 2 years back. During that conversation, the property manager informed me that she believed "Dos was causing more problems than solutions" and that they'd no longer be willing to renew my lease. On September 1st, I received written notice that they would not renew my lease and I had 30 days to vacate. I'm stuck in the 2 bedroom by myself with them claiming that I'm responsible for the entirety of the rent. Am I liable for the rent during the time I stay here? Am I still governed by the provisions in the lease? One of them says that from 60 days prior to the expiration of the lease, they are allowed to access my apartment any day between 9am-9pm for the purposes of showing it to respective tenants and that blocking their entrance is a $50 fee. It's really unnerving and upsetting to have them barging into my house with just a quick voicemail a few hours prior (I usually don't get to these until later). They truly screwed me over in negotiating the lease. I thought it was a done deal until they gave me verbal warning the night the lease ended/written warning the day after. I'm scrambling to find a new place but it's impossible to do this quickly and, if I'm liable for rent, it's $61 a day that I stay here. Do I have any recourse?
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 01:36 |
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gvibes posted:In the civil context, it is referred to as spoliation, and yeah, it would probably apply in this case. Courts don't need to be involved, there just needs to be some sort of likelihood of litigation or something like that (not sure of the exact standard). Once there is that likelihood of litigation, you have to preserve relevant poo poo. What if someone downloads a song, deletes it, and then a while later receives an RIAA notice? If it went to the courts, could the fact that a song was downloaded but then could not be found on the computer be evidence of spoliation? How could this be distinguished from someone who deleted the song after getting a notice, and from someone who never downloaded the song at all?
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 01:47 |
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SuperomegaBill posted:New York State - Kings County - Landlord/Tenant Call a tenant's union. This might qualify as a retaliatory eviction
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 01:51 |
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Incredulous Red posted:Call a tenant's union. This might qualify as a retaliatory eviction I failed to register my complaints with HPD before we began the renewal. To qualify as retaliation, it needs to be registered with a government agency. I've called HPD now and registered the complaints but it's just to make sure these things don't go unsolved for the next tenant. As far as I can tell, I don't have recourse under NYRPL.
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 01:59 |
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I have a family member who was just issued a summons, and named a defendant in a lawsuit. I am not at all named in the summons/lawsuit- would I be able to ask questions about the process here? Or should I just focus on finding a good lawyer for my family? It is a really lovely situation and I'm very worried about everything.
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 02:43 |
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webcams for christ posted:I have a family member who was just issued a summons, and named a defendant in a lawsuit. You can ask questions here if you want to learn about the general lawsuit process - what to expect, some issues to watch out for, the nature of the claim against your family member. You should also start looking for a good lawyer. Start with any lawyers you know (and like), even if they are in a completely different field.
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 03:15 |
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webcams for christ posted:I have a family member who was just issued a summons, and named a defendant in a lawsuit. Yes, you can ask questions, but more importantly, YES, YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON FINDING A GOOD LAWYER FOR YOUR FAMILY MEMBER. A decent lawyer who practices in the jurisdiction of the lawsuit, and one with whom your relative has an attorney-client relationship will pretty much always be able to give better advice than any of the attorneys here. Start here: nm posted:Picking a lawyer:
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 03:16 |
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joat mon posted:Start here: If you work for a company with a dedicated legal department, would that be a good place to ask? I imagine they get that a lot.
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 04:19 |
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Thanks for the input so far- it is greatly appreciated. Definitely asking around with family, friends, and work for legal contacts/references. New Jersey residents here. Long story short is that a family member is being sued for damages stemming from a car accident that happened in January '10. Police, and as far as I know, both insurance companies involved, ruled it a no-fault accident. It seems the plaintiff was denied any insurance compensation, and has lawyered up with one of those "Injured? Accident? Call us!!" firms to seek damages for medical expenses, though there were no injuries reported at the time of he accident. The plaintiff's insurance company has been named as a defendant as well. To me, the whole thing reeks of bullshit, and seems like the plaintiff is trying to cash in. The summons gets the date of the accident wrong, and the plaintiff's account seems to differ wildly from the police report. It also names 1-5 "John Does" as defendants along with my family member. (I assume they are referring to the passengers in he car.) To me it all seems frivolous, but I feel like law firms like the one representing the plaintiff don't take cases they aren't confident can win, since they only charge if a judgement is awarded. So this is really freaking out my whole family since we are pretty much a giant turnip they are bleed.
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 04:54 |
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Edit: double-post
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 04:55 |
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webcams for christ posted:Thanks for the input so far- it is greatly appreciated. IANAL. Isn't this the entire point of car insurance? Your family member's insurance company should be handling all of this. Have you contacted them?
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 05:23 |
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webcams for christ posted:Thanks for the input so far- it is greatly appreciated. Call your insurance company first. Unless NJ is really wierd, your insurance company should have a duty to defend you in the lawsuit. It may well be frivolous, but the plaintiff's attorney may be playing a game of chicken with you (actually, your insurance company) - The subtext is, "You will almost certainly win, but it will cost you $10,000 to defend this suit, so why don't you settle for $7000?" baquerd, if the folks in the legal department practiced in the local jurisdiction, I'd put them just below 'rich friend's attorney,' though one might feel more comfortable approaching the folks in the legal department. The rich friend's attorney is more likely to practice more generally and thus have broader contacts with a broader range of attorney specialties.
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 13:54 |
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zachol posted:What if someone downloads a song, deletes it, and then a while later receives an RIAA notice? If it went to the courts, could the fact that a song was downloaded but then could not be found on the computer be evidence of spoliation? How could this be distinguished from someone who deleted the song after getting a notice, and from someone who never downloaded the song at all? But if someone does not and should not have known about a pending lawsuit, then based on my understanding of spoliation, they are in the clear. Now, maybe they would have a case if you knew they were suing everybody who did X, and you did X. I don't know. But my knowledge in the area is really superficial, so I am probably wrong.
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 14:15 |
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Choadmaster posted:IANAL. Isn't this the entire point of car insurance? Your family member's insurance company should be handling all of this. Have you contacted them? joat mon posted:Call your insurance company first. Unless NJ is really wierd, your insurance company should have a duty to defend you in the lawsuit. Thanks for the feedback. We are not a very legal-minded family, and were pretty shook up about it when we got the summons. We've contacted our insurance company, and they have been absolutely wonderful. Now we wait.
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 16:41 |
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I'm sorry if this has been covered but this thread is very long. My ex-stepfather and my mother have been divorced for about 6 years now. He has been employed on and off, including a hedge fund he started with the money from the divorce (including his half of the sale of the house, so upwards of $500,000). In any case, the hedge fund failed, his money is gone, and he's been on state assistance here in California for at least the last year. He had paid child support off and on (mostly off--he did his best to avoid payment) for my three half-siblings, and a few months ago the state sued him for some of that money (I'm unclear on this part--my mother was at the hearing and this is all through her). He had his assistance garnished to pay back the state whatever he owed, and once that was paid off, the assistance was garnished to begin paying my mother her back support, to the tune of $500 per month. However, he is planning on moving to New York in 3 days. Because he has made his best effort to avoid paying up until now, I'm sure he'll make it even more difficult in the new state. His mother lives there so he may be intending to live with her and not work. My googling has led me to the New York UIFSA office and my mother plans to register her support order there, but I'm wondering what else we should do? Does that cover back support? We have my ex-stepfather's mother's address, but we may not have his address if he moves elsewhere. Any information we should try to get before he leaves the state?
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# ? Sep 9, 2011 22:39 |
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I started a thread in BFC about this and was directed here: I am making a webcomic and I've found an artist from China to do the art for me. I write the script and pay them to produce the art based on my direction. I want to protect myself and sign a contract with them that says that all the rights of the work belong to me and that they can't make profits from the work in the future (e.g., making prints, putting them up on another website, etc.), or decide to break off from me and use my characters/story etc. I want to know about the validity of just emailing them a contract, having them print it and sign it, and then mailing it back to me, and whether I should get it notarized (and if I do need to get it notarized, how can I do that given that this person does not live in the US). I understand that IP protection is poor in China and am mainly interested in protecting my rights in the US. I want to know how I can make it so that my claims to the work are ironclad in a legal setting. maxwell.mu fucked around with this message at 06:44 on Sep 10, 2011 |
# ? Sep 10, 2011 06:40 |
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maxwell.mu posted:I started a thread in BFC about this and was directed here: I suppose I should start this off by the usual disclaimer; I am not offering legal advice, bar that you should seek the assistance of an attorney. Keeping that in mind international IP protection is difficult, not the least because it involves matters of private international law regarding such issues as choice of law and choice of forums (which Courts are competent to hear the case). A US attorney, which I am not, will be able to tell you the needed steps for an agreement that will be upheld by US Courts, but for what you are asking you will in addition need to be sure that the agreement fulfils any requirement for a valid agreement under Chinese law. I realise that you are looking primarily at securing your position within the US. However, should this become an issue the most likely way it will do so is because someone is printing posters or the equivalent of the comics and selling them online, shipping from China. If the artists should do that you may be able to acquire the US equivalent of a cease and desist order, but unless there are assets to enforce against in the US you will have to seek enforcement in China. Thus the best protection would be gained by having an agreement drawn up in collaboration between US and Chinese lawyers so that it is valid, and enforceable, in both jurisdictions. This may, however, not be cost efficient. I do believe you are right in seeking to secure your rights in the US and should do so. As far as I know there are fairly standardised agreements available for this, and you should consider contacting an attorney to have one set up. I do, however, think that while that may be the extent of what is cost efficient to do, you should not overrate the protection this will offer. With that out of the way, best of luck with the comics!
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# ? Sep 10, 2011 12:15 |
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I work in eDiscovery, but not as a lawyer. I can offer my take on how forensics works basically when you delete a file, that file isn't deleted. The pointer to the file is removed, but the file remains. The computer will overwrite that space when it needs it. So if you download a mp3 and have a big hard drive even if you delete it, it is most likely still around (as well as other files that would point to its existence e.g. if you torrented it the torrent might exist, if you played it the log of the file in your playlist might exist) Now if you get a letter from the RIAA saying you downloaded a file, and then delete that file, you are going to get into trouble. Also if you download a hard drive wiping program, wipe the file, and then claim you didn't after getting that letter you are most likely going to get into trouble as downloading the hard drive erasing program, installing it, and running it after the fact. Now if you have a program like eraser http://eraser.heidi.ie/ installed on your machine, and set it to wipe all deleted files on your drive once a month, you will be fine until you get that letter (or have knowledge you will get that letter) at which time you need to disable it. Computer forensic work isn't cheap so when that stage comes it has gotten serious. How it would most likely work is they would Subpoena(?) your hard drive, make a byte for byte forensic image, take the image to their "lab" and search it for evidence that the file existed on your machine. quote:What if someone downloads a song, deletes it, and then a while later receives an RIAA notice? If it went to the courts, could the fact that a song was downloaded but then could not be found on the computer be evidence of spoliation? How could this be distinguished from someone who deleted the song after getting a notice, and from someone who never downloaded the song at all? As I mentioned above wiping all references to an illegally downloaded file isn't as easy as deleting the file. There would be a cache of you going to the page in your browser history, the song in your playlist history, the torrent file itself, the torrent file log, etc. If you did remove all those then there is no way to prove you downloaded the file you are free to go. Odds are you aren't talking about the RIAA and you got hit for downloading porn from a torrent (since the RIAA stopped sueing people and porn copyright trolls have sued over 400k people. I would read http://torrentlawyer.wordpress.com/ blog to get an idea what you are in for (odds are, a lot of harassing phone calls a dropped case, but not always) Foma fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Sep 10, 2011 |
# ? Sep 10, 2011 21:44 |
IANAL but pretty sure they base their case on "this IP downloaded that file at that time, ISP says you had that IP at that time" and the file not existing on your computer will mean jack poo poo.
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# ? Sep 10, 2011 22:12 |
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JustNorse posted:I suppose I should start this off by the usual disclaimer; I am not offering legal advice, bar that you should seek the assistance of an attorney. Keeping that in mind international IP protection is difficult, not the least because it involves matters of private international law regarding such issues as choice of law and choice of forums (which Courts are competent to hear the case). A US attorney, which I am not, will be able to tell you the needed steps for an agreement that will be upheld by US Courts, but for what you are asking you will in addition need to be sure that the agreement fulfils any requirement for a valid agreement under Chinese law. Thanks for the reply. In terms of China, I don't know what the law protects (my guess: very little), and what it does protect, I don't know how much is enforced (my guess: very little). So I am essentially washing my hands of that jurisdiction and I don't really care what happens over there; it is just more trouble than it is worth. The way I see the contract coming into play would be in one of the following scenarios: 1) if, much later, a US publisher wants to publish the print version, or say, a studio wants to make a movie based on the story, I want to have good paperwork so that they do not back out because of fears of getting mired in an IP dispute. 2) as you say, the artist or possibly other parties are selling physical products based on the initial work, printing them in China and selling them online. In this case I feel that there is nothing I can do to stop them from doing the printing, and if they are selling the goods in China then there is nothing I can do about that either. However, if they are selling to US buyers, then they need to use something like paypal or a friend in the US to receive the money, and here is where legal recourse might be effective--by going after whatever third party that is transferring the money. 3) for some reason the artist decides to break off from me and start their own series based on my characters and the story done so far. I would like to prevent a situation where they are signing on with a US publisher and obtaining funds from them to continue this work, or signing on after they complete (their version of) the work by themselves. Given this, do you still think it necessary to try to make the contract enforceable in both jurisdictions? Also, could you comment on my original question about the validity of just emailing them an contract and having them sign it and mail it back? I sometimes do this with subleasing, for example, but I never knew if that's actually effective or if it's just something that everyone does. (And I'm paying for the entire project out of pocket, so since I'm quite poor I'd like to avoid seeing a lawyer if I can help it.)
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# ? Sep 10, 2011 22:16 |
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maxwell.mu posted:Snip You seem to have thought this through and have realistic expectations as to the level of protection you can hope to gain, which was what I wanted to, and could, address. The more specific questions turn on US law, and since I as mentioned am not a US lawyer I will refrain from commenting as I cannot offer qualified advice. (This is hard for a lawyer, admitting that one can’t really advice and consequently shut up. If my bar organisation finds out they’ll most likely have me disbarred...) Hopefully there are better qualified people here that can respond to the specifics.
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# ? Sep 11, 2011 15:40 |
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In June, I moved to an apartment in Brighton, MA (a suburb of Boston). The apartment is in a basement. As of the last few weeks we've started to have an issue with mice. There is clearly some entrance that mice are getting in - I've seen them run under the refrigerator, heard them behind the sink, seen them in our kitchen, in my roommate's room, and in my room. Last night, my friend managed to catch one and throw it out of the apartment, and there was another one a few minutes later. I am loving terrified of mice, and I work from home. There have been a few incidents where I've been on the phone with a customer only to shriek in their ear when one of those loving rodents dashes out under my desk. It's stressing me out being in my apartment, and my lease extends to next June. I went to the landlord to complain about this. The first time, she brought an "exterminator" in who laid down three glue traps. All three of these traps caught mice, but there are still more. The second time my roommate went to complain, she was basically told that there's nothing she can do. She said that the pesticide that would be needed is illegal in Massachusetts, and that the only thing an exterminator could do is lay down more glue traps. I lived in another apartment that had an issue, and that landlord called an exterminator who immediately found and filled the holes that the mice were coming in. What are my options for dealing with this? Someone suggested calling my own exterminator and deducting it from my rent - do I have the ability to do this? Is the landlord legally responsible for providing me an answer for this? I'm planning on going to her office again tomorrow and throwing a fit, but it would help if I knew if I have any legal recourse to force her to help. I can't emphasize enough how much this has been stressing me out lately. Also - I know I could theoretically get a cat but I don't really want one. Murmur Twin fucked around with this message at 02:56 on Sep 12, 2011 |
# ? Sep 12, 2011 00:49 |
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Obviously ianal but tenant law is very interesting to me so I dug around landlord tenant law in MA. Are there more than two apartments being rented out in this building? If there isn't it looks like the mice are your responsibility.
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# ? Sep 12, 2011 18:36 |
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Yeah, my landlord owns multiple apartments spread out on 2 streets in my block. I'm pretty sure they rent out all of the apartments in my buildling (12 total? I've actually never been upstairs before).
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# ? Sep 12, 2011 20:13 |
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Oh well cool then, if you haven't had your meeting yet you may want to refer them to the State Sanctuary Code for MA (105 CMR 410)quote:Cockroaches and Rodents: The landlord must maintain the unit free from rodents, cockroaches, and insect infestation, if there are two or more apartments in the building. quote:Duty to Provide Habitable Premises And here are the tenant remedies quote:Rent Withholding
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# ? Sep 12, 2011 21:38 |
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Hi guys, I apologize in advance for a trivially stupid question that has probably already been asked and answered in the thread, but I'm a little exasperated and just need a super quick yes or no. I am going to be filing for summary divorce in Los Angeles County, but right now I'm on an international assignment. All I need to know is if, assuming all of our forms are completed and signed by both me and my wife, someone can drop off / file the forms at the clerk on my behalf. I've been under the impression that there has to be some power of attorney forms signed, but I'm getting mixed responses from my research about this question specifically.
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# ? Sep 13, 2011 05:58 |
kgibson posted:Hi guys, I apologize in advance for a trivially stupid question that has probably already been asked and answered in the thread, but I'm a little exasperated and just need a super quick yes or no. Power of attorney is way different than what you're thinking. I don't know what you're thinking but it's not a power of attorney. You need a notary maybe? What exactly are you trying to do? Just drop poo poo off at the courthouse? You can mail stuff in probably. I don't know how your courthouse does it but mine only requires people to be physically present for a few things. Call your local courthouse and see if they have some sort of family law self help center. If so, then use that resource to its fullest.
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# ? Sep 13, 2011 07:59 |
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Traffic Tickets. In the state of Michigan it is apparently a misdemeanor to bypass a weighing station. The penalty is 2 points on my insurance, up to 90 days in jail and no more than a $500 fine, if I plead guilty. I am seeking any advice on whether to plead guilty or not. My defense. I have a chauffeurs license, and nowhere in the testing for it does it indicate I have to stop at weigh stations. The vehicle I was driving was a 2000 Ford Box Truck, which is not a common sight at weigh stations. The officer who issued the ticket indicated he does not know why the Michigan legislature decided to make this offense a misdemeanor. Also, I was not made to go through the scales nor was the vehicle inspected.
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# ? Sep 13, 2011 16:24 |
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ganglysumbia posted:Traffic Tickets. What is the truck's GVWR? (or, what is the 4th character in the VIN?)
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# ? Sep 13, 2011 19:06 |
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# ? May 16, 2024 06:48 |
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So I found out today that my brother was let go, after recently accepting a promotion at his company. They told him they are letting him go because on his background check they found a DUI from 12 years ago. Is this legal at all? I thought they couldn't even disclose why you didn't get a job. The state is North Carolina if it makes a difference.
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# ? Sep 13, 2011 19:35 |