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That is totally bizarre. What state etc etc.?
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Jan 11, 2012 18:15
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Connecticut specifically, though really it seems like something that isn't legal period in any state if they don't actually start any legal proceedings against you beforehand. That's all I know for now though.
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Jan 11, 2012 18:55
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Could have had a confession of judgment. But they are rare. I don't know if Conn has them.
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Jan 11, 2012 18:56
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Fluorescent posted:Here's the situation (state of Ohio, Butler county): Yeah, she has a case but you might have a defense. Have you had the previous president talk to the current president? Sometimes these things can be resolved before you go to court.
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Jan 11, 2012 19:54
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Not really a personal legal question, but hopefully one of you guys remember enough constitutional law to tell me re: Hosanna-Tabor Church v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, today's big supreme court decision. Does it basically allow employment discrimination of protected groups so long as they are employed as "ministers" under the law? Like you can explicitly be fired or not hired due to race/disability/whatever as long as the position in question is "ministerial"? Is there precedent for this/was that sort of discrimination exemption ever limited to firing ministers based on their religious activities? Let me know if there's a thread in d&d better suited to this.
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Jan 11, 2012 20:25
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I guess if they think it is a bona fide occupation qualification then it is ok. That language is written into the statute.
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Jan 11, 2012 20:29
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So a preacher who became ill could be fired explicitly because their church didn't want to pay the higher insurance premiums?
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Jan 11, 2012 20:39
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El_Elegante posted:So a preacher who became ill could be fired explicitly because their church didn't want to pay the higher insurance premiums? It appears now that religious workers in a religious institution have absolutely no federal employment protection anymore. I dont want to overstate the case, but that is what is seems like.
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Jan 11, 2012 20:52
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So my dad has been working in Florida for this guy for 5 years, and part of his employment benefits was that he supplied him a condo, and provided him with additional pay in which was paid back to him as rent. That changed about 14 months ago, when he just began directly paying himself the rent through the company. The guy's been losing money hand over fist and decided to cut my dad's position so he can contract out his responsibilities. So on top of firing my father without cause, notice, or severance the guy hand wrote an eviction notice to let him know he had 72 hours to vacate the premises. He also changed the locks and blocked him from entering without an escort. I told him to call the police, because the lock change was illegal, the eviction was illegal, and the escort was illegal.. which he did, and the Sherrif Deputy who responded got into an argument with the landlord who told him that his lawyers had assured him that because his company leased the apartment to itself and provided it to him as a benefit, that he could not claim it as a residence. Once the Deputy had ascertained that he had been given the right to live there, that he could not be removed without a proper eviction, and that he could not change the locks, cut off utilities (he threatened to have the power turned off), prevent him from accessing the apartment, etc. However, by the end of the conversation, the Deputy had convinced my dad to just grab his poo poo and get out so there wouldn't be any problems. I told my dad to make it very clear that he would not be vacating the premises until he had been issued a proper notice of eviction. The landlord then claimed that since his company was leasing it to itself, he was also a tenant and he had the right to co-occupy the residence with my father, so we couldn't ask him or any agent of his to leave and that he had the right to enter the premises without notice or cause. The Deputy acknowledged that the guy was clearly in the wrong, but would not put anything in a report. I was thinking of trying to push for a trespassing warning the next time he tries to just walk in or refuses to leave. After the Deputy left, the landlord refused to give my dad a copy of the new key, so we had the locks changed again to a new key. Since the Deputy told him that he was not allowed to change the locks, what can we do if he decides to change the locks again? Just keep going back and forth? Is there some kind of a stop order we can petition a judge for? (I went through Chapter 83 Landlord/Tenant and there are no tenant injunctions as a right to remedy, only the collection of damages) I know it makes a difference so I'll also point out that the company is a sole-proprietorship, so it's legally impossible for him to try to make a distinction between the actions of the company and his own personal actions, though he has tried to protect his personal liability by claiming it's not me it's the company. Too bad for him he didn't listen to my dad who has been telling him for years that he needs to incorporate if he wants to limit personal liability. DAY 2 We came in this morning, and he had pulled the back patio door off trying to break in, and shortly after we pulled up so did a locksmith so he was trying to break into the apartment again. When we got there, he called the Sheriff's office to have us arrested for trespassing and the SD basically told him to stop loving calling them out and get an eviction order if he wants us out. A few hours later, he gained access to the electrical control room, and shut off power to our apartment. We called the electric company if there were any orders to turn our electricity off and they said no. So we called police office out, and they inspected the room and saw the power main had been thrown. They turned the power back on and had us remove the key from the electric room door, and turn it in to the condo association board. They were like I know he did it, you know he did it, but we can't prove anything. If he comes back to your apartment to harass you, you don't have to answer just call 911 and we'll charge him with trespassing. So a few hours later, my wife saw him with his face pressed against a window and when he saw she had noticed him, he just waved and walked away. So we called the police again, but his lights were off and he wouldn't answer the door. The police tried to run the tags on his GT-R and the plates were marked as inactive. Then they ran his name through the computer and found him, and discovered that he had been charged about a year ago with some weird battery against dating charge or something. So now that they know he has a history of violence against women, they opened a criminal investigation against him for stalking/harassment. What else should I be on the look out for? What can I do in terms of collecting evidence for a lawsuit? I'm so happy that at the very least we now some documentation of the recent events in the police report. I told my dad to write out a timeline of events for everything, and we are now keeping a journal of every time he rings our door or looks in our windows. So I think we've at least got the basic do's and don'ts but I know that experience teaches many lessons so if anyone wants to provide further enlightenment I'm definitely looking to hear it.
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Jan 12, 2012 02:42
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nm posted:People care more about not paying child support than jail or children, T/F? Not entirely. I'd say 70% of my cases have decent effort on the part of the non-custodial parent, 25% don't care about anything, and 5% are actively trying to do anything they can to make the other parent's life hell, even if it means jail time or loving up their kids' lives.
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Jan 12, 2012 02:49
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I have a question about 2-party recording consent laws. Specifically, I would like to record one of my professors during a class that I'm enrolled in. This specific professor has a rather sordid history of publicly reprimanding his students, failing entire classes, and throwing classroom equipment at students. Do I have to receive permission to record his lectures? Do I have to announce my intention to record his lectures? Can I simply hit the record button on my phone during lectures and not tell him? I live in Washington, which has 2-party consent laws for wiretapping. The reason I ask is that I can see a potential situation where I might be able to record potential incidents of misconduct that he perpetrates, and the present this to the department in order to (hopefully) make him less of an rear end in a top hat. I'm hoping that it doesn't come to this, but like I said, he has a long and sordid history.
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Jan 12, 2012 05:12
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It appears I'm going to be slapped with a non-compete, and I wanted to know if it will hold up. I work for a company that provides a specific service to private organizations in specific locations, and I'm paid substantially below market value. I received an offer for a company that provides a similar but still different and very specific service to government organizations in the same locations. Does the fact that the two companies are structured to by design never be competitors affect the non-compete, even though work performed is basically the same?
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Jan 12, 2012 20:06
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PT6A posted:Quick question for any Canadian lawyers: does the Young Offenders Act introduce some sort of statute of limitations onto indictable offences? Could I still be charged with something I did 8-10 years ago as a 12-14 year-old (not murder or sexual assault; probably harassment and/or simple assault if anything)? Disclaimer: This is provided for information purposes only. I am a law student, not a licensed lawyer. Some of this is speculation on my part; this could all be wrong. If you are charged with a criminal offence it is absolutely imperative that you contact a lawyer immediately. The Youth Criminal Justice Act, which replaced the Young Offenders Act, explicitly does not create a limitation period for indictable offences. If you're curious, the relevant section is s. 142(4) of the Act. The default under the Criminal Code, as you seem to know, is that there is no limitation period for indictable offences. Therefore, in principle, you could still be charged for an indictable offence committed 8-10 years ago. It'll be up to the discretion of the Crown and/or police whether they will proceed. That being said, it seems unlikely that the Crown would proceed by indictment for a simple assault or harassment committed 8-10 years ago by a child. Without some aggravating factors it would be unusual for the Crown to proceed by indictment even in a fresh assault case, and this case would seem to be very cold. Evidentiary issues alone would make indictment difficult and expensive. That isn't to say that they can't, they can, it would just be rare. Whether they would consider proceeding would depend on the specific facts of the case and the sorts of evidence that the Crown has available to them. To get a more definite assessment, and if you have some additional reason to be concerned, you'll really have to go speak to a lawyer who knows the YCJA and who is familiar with the policy of the Crown in your area.
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Jan 12, 2012 20:06
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Pudgygiant posted:It appears I'm going to be slapped with a non-compete, and I wanted to know if it will hold up. I work for a company that provides a specific service to private organizations in specific locations, and I'm paid substantially below market value. I received an offer for a company that provides a similar but still different and very specific service to government organizations in the same locations. Does the fact that the two companies are structured to by design never be competitors affect the non-compete, even though work performed is basically the same? What state are you in?
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Jan 12, 2012 20:24
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Konstantin posted:What state are you in? Afghanistan, the offer was negotiated while I was in Colorado, the company is incorporated in Nevada, and I signed the contract in Washington state.
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Jan 12, 2012 21:04
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Pudgygiant posted:the two companies are structured to by design never be competitors quote:affect the non-compete quote:even though work performed is basically the same? These three quotes are at odds with each other. You are saying you signed a non-compete agreement, then you tell us that the two companies are designed never to be competitors, which suggests that you are in the clear, but then you tell us that they perform basically the same work? What do you mean when you say the companies are designed never to be competitors? Do you mean, one of them only pursues private organizations and the other only pursues governmental organizations, but other than that they are the same type of company?
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Jan 12, 2012 22:06
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PT6A posted:Quick question for any Canadian lawyers: does the Young Offenders Act introduce some sort of statute of limitations onto indictable offences? Could I still be charged with something I did 8-10 years ago as a 12-14 year-old (not murder or sexual assault; probably harassment and/or simple assault if anything)? Not that I'm aware of. Indictable charges can be laid whenever, YCJA explicitly sets that out, YOA probably did too but I'm too lazy to look it up. Summary convictions can't be prosecuted after 6 months Also note, hybrid offenses (ie: crown can elect to prosecute summarily or as an indictable offense) are treated as indictable until crown election. That's a lot (most?) things in the Code (including simple assault) (not a lawyer, and not your lawyer) hypocrite lecteur fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Jan 12, 2012 |
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Jan 12, 2012 22:08
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entris posted:These three quotes are at odds with each other. Well, it could also fit if hypothetically both were consulting or PMC firms, but one only did say, security, and the other did only mechanical work, and the job for both firms was say, a driver.
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Jan 12, 2012 22:24
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Diplomaticus posted:Well, it could also fit if hypothetically both were consulting or PMC firms, but one only did say, security, and the other did only mechanical work, and the job for both firms was say, a driver. Well, I assumed that he wasn't in any sort of job position like that. I'm not an employment law guy - can you really do a non-compete for people who provide non-special services like driving, janitorial work, etc?? I always thought non-competes were for people with special knowledge of the employer's business or special skills.
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Jan 12, 2012 23:00
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Mr.Peabody posted:What else should I be on the look out for? What can I do in terms of collecting evidence for a lawsuit? Get a lawyer and ask them what you need. I don't know about Florida but in Oregon, that landlord could be sued for a nice chunk of change and you may also get attorneys fees.
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Jan 12, 2012 23:13
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A little backstory. Iv been working at a Ford dealership in Texas (Williamson County) for roughly 1 year and 7 months. I work as a quicklane technician doing light maintenance. At 1 year, you accure 40 hours paid vacation. I have mine coming up in 2 weeks (23-29). My boss is getting on my case about being slow. Apparently 200% productivity isnt enough, 8.1 hour job done in 3 hours flat. I have reason to believe I will be fired before I get to use my vacation. Can my employer deny my paid weeks vacation after it is used? I plan to take my week off, the day I come back, I will put in my 2 weeks notice. Im wondering if I do this, they fire me the day I put in my 2 weeks notice and don't file my weeks vacation.
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Jan 13, 2012 02:22
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Gleri posted:Disclaimer: This is provided for information purposes only. I am a law student, not a licensed lawyer. Some of this is speculation on my part; this could all be wrong. If you are charged with a criminal offence it is absolutely imperative that you contact a lawyer immediately. Thanks for the info. As it stands, I don't believe I'm under any threat of prosecution, nor do I think (even if they really wanted to nail me) they could do. However, the reason I ask is, without getting too E/N, I'm thinking of trying to volunteer for some sort of anti-bullying charity to make amends for some of the lovely things I did as a teenager, some of which could possibly be criminal. My concern is that, if I'm fully open about what I did, I leave myself fairly legally vulnerable. Again, I don't think I would be prosecuted, but it would certainly be possible. Is there any way I could do what I'm thinking of without running any risk of prosecution? I'd obviously consult with a criminal lawyer before I do anything, but I want to have an idea if I'm asking an impossibly stupid question before I do.
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Jan 13, 2012 03:22
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entris posted:These three quotes are at odds with each other. That's exactly it. The company I'm leaving will never have anything to do with the government, while the company I'm joining exclusively pursues government business.
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Jan 13, 2012 06:16
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PT6A posted:Thanks for the info. As it stands, I don't believe I'm under any threat of prosecution, nor do I think (even if they really wanted to nail me) they could do. However, the reason I ask is, without getting too E/N, I'm thinking of trying to volunteer for some sort of anti-bullying charity to make amends for some of the lovely things I did as a teenager, some of which could possibly be criminal. My concern is that, if I'm fully open about what I did, I leave myself fairly legally vulnerable. Again, I don't think I would be prosecuted, but it would certainly be possible. I wouldn't want to bet my criminal record on what a crown will or won't do on any given day I mean it's pretty unlikely they'd see it in the public interest to prosecute a stale minor offense that the victim probably isn't even interested in any more. But people also win the lottery
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Jan 13, 2012 17:52
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I have two questions, the first for pretty much anyone, the second for somebody with legal knowledge: 1.) Can anybody recommend a reputable legal insurance company? I know there's things like malpractice insurance, what about just general insurance? I live in the US, and don't want to sue anybody, I'd just like to be covered from random lawsuits due to bullshit. Although I don't mind something like a PCP, I'd like to have some choice in the matter while still keeping the same insurance company. Having a go-to lawyer I can pay $200/hr to ask for a referral to a specialist lawyer to pay $400/hr for answers to questions like the following would be nice though: 2.) Is a table of contents of a PDF covered under fair use? It's a very large PDF (over 400 pages), and a very dense TOC--the contents cover every numbered or titled section, which ends up averaging about 10-20 destinations per page. I've made the bookmarks scroll directly to the section, and not just the page itself, if that matters, but having the TOC would (in my opinion) not in any way be a replacement for actually having the book itself, unless you were only interested in being able to tell someone where a particular section was located or what the titles were. It's probably structured a lot like a legal document (it's a set of rules for a super nerdy game). I'd prefer to just ask them for permission, but I understand that can create a whole set of legal complications for them if they want to defend against copyright issues in the future, so I imagine companies are extremely reluctant to say anything but "No.", and besides, I don't want them to not be able to defend against someone trying to rip them off, actually I don't want to be involved in their legal future at all, I just want to put out this thing that would be helpful to people who own the PDF. 2.a.) How much can I expect to pay for an "official" lawyerly response to question 2? Is asking for a quote to defend against something like that ... normal? I mean, provided it doesn't turn out to be illegal, and that there's less than like a 1% chance that they'd sue me anyway, and they worst they could do even then is force me to stop distributing it, that'd affect whether or not I actually release this thing.
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Jan 14, 2012 04:06
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wellwhoopdedooo posted:I have two questions, the first for pretty much anyone, the second for somebody with legal knowledge: I don't know of a single reputable insurance policy that promises to pay for legal costs and doesn't contain all sorts of limiting language that basically screws you if you are sued. All of the policies that I've seen contain limits to the coverage of the policy or special definitions that basically make them junk.
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Jan 14, 2012 04:28
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Curious if any of the lawyers can explain the actual law behind dumpster-diving or rummaging through someone's garbage. For the sake of argument, I'm in Williamson county in Texas (just north of Austin). No offense has been broken, no crime committed, just curious what the actual laws are on private property vs public. Thanks!
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Jan 14, 2012 05:42
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So, it sounds like my only real option is a pre-paid, extremely limited service. Might as well look at keeping a lawyer on retainer.
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Jan 14, 2012 10:37
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Austinboi posted:Curious if any of the lawyers can explain the actual law behind dumpster-diving or rummaging through someone's garbage. For the sake of argument, I'm in Williamson county in Texas (just north of Austin). Generally (at least in common law, states may have different regimes codified in statute) property put into the garbage is considered to have been abandoned and thus free to the first taker. That said, you may be trespassing in the process of getting to abandoned property, so it still might not be legal. wellwhoopdedoo: The answer to your copyright question is "It depends on a lot of fact specific considerations". It doesn't sound like you're looking for any kind of compensation for it - have you considered just offering to assign the copyright to the company in exchange for them agreeing to distribute it to lawful owners?
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Jan 15, 2012 01:02
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Kalman posted:Generally (at least in common law, states may have different regimes codified in statute) property put into the garbage is considered to have been abandoned and thus free to the first taker. Yeah, that'd be absolutely agreeable to me. I'll see if they're willing to do that, thanks!
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Jan 15, 2012 09:04
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Since nobody has picked this one up, I'll bite. I'm not a lawyer, but I have some degree of familiarity with such recording statutes.Harold Ramis Drugs posted:I have a question about 2-party recording consent laws. Specifically, I would like to record one of my professors during a class that I'm enrolled in. This specific professor has a rather sordid history of publicly reprimanding his students, failing entire classes, and throwing classroom equipment at students. Here is your state statute on point: Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9.73.030. posted:(1) . . . It shall be unlawful for any individual . . . to intercept, or record any: First, as you have pointed out, you need the consent of all parties involved. The statute goes on to explain when consent is considered to have been reasonably given in subsection (3). But if you are trying to be covert about your recording, your conduct will not fit into this definition. Second, is that there does not need any consent of the recording if the "conversation" is not "private." Here is what your Supreme Court has had to say about what constitutes a "private" conversation: Lewis v. State, Dept. of Licensing, 157 Wash. 2d 446, 458-59 (2006) posted:[T]his court adopted the Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1969) definition of “private” as “‘belonging to one's self ... secret ... intended only for the persons involved (a conversation) ... holding a confidential relationship to something ... a secret message: a private communication ... secretly: not open or in public.”’ When determining whether a particular conversation is private, we look to the subjective intentions of the parties to the conversation. However, because most defendants would contend that their conversations are private, we also look to factors bearing on the reasonable expectations and intent of the parties. [W]e identified three factors bearing on the reasonable expectations and intent of the parties (1) duration and subject matter of the conversation, (2) location of conversation and presence or potential presence of a third party, and (3) role of the nonconsenting party and his or her relationship to the consenting party. But just as important in this part of the statutory prohibition is the term "conversation." The statute's focus is on recording only the auditory aspect of the communication. I know that, generally, this means you can record someone without their consent as long as you are not recording any audio--because then you aren't recording a conversation. I do not know if this is the case for Washington, so I am not suggesting that it actually is. So if you're so inclined, you could poke around on this issue. Or, alternatively, you could just circumvent the whole issue of recording the professor and go straight to the school. Although I don't think the school would care about a professor who is mean or grades harshly, they probably wouldn't be too keen on an employee throwing around equipment and chancing liability for an injured student.
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Jan 15, 2012 17:56
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I'm a college student in the United States (living in Illinois), and for an Economics class I was taking I needed a subscription to the Wall Street Journal, so during the first class we filled out a subscription form with information like name, address, email, but no payment information. I had to switch to another class, so I no longer needed the subscription, so I never sent them my payment information. For approximately 4 months they kept sending me email and snail mail about having to pay them, but I never received an actual newspaper from them. I just ignored all of their requests to pay them, but today I received a letter from a debt collection agency asking for $29.95. The collection agency is North Shore Agency, if that matters. I figure if they're sending these goons after me, I shouldn't just ignore this. AFAIK, you can be taken to court for as little as $20, but I doubt they'd do that, but I don't want to take chances. I don't intend to pay the bill, but is there anything I should know or do to protect myself? Baxate fucked around with this message at 19:50 on Jan 15, 2012 |
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Jan 15, 2012 18:28
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baxate posted:I'm a college student in the United States, and for an Economics class I was taking I needed a subscription to the Wall Street Journal, so during the first class we filled out a subscription form with information like name, address, email, but no payment information. I wouldn't ignore it. I would keep records of anything they sent to me, or any other contact, what time/how many times they called me, what they say, names, etc. Review this FTC FAQ on the Fair Debt Collection Practices act to get a sense of your legal rights: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre18.shtm. Within 30 days of the debt validation notice, a debtor may send a letter (registered mail of course) 1. disputing and 2. requesting validation of the debt. Interestingly enough, there is some info on a blog about your exact situation: http://studioshorts.com/blog/2010/06/north-shore-agency-how-to-deal-with-a-credit-agency/ Other than that, I wouldn't talk to them until they've initiated proceedings against you. Yeah, you CAN be taken to court for that amount, but it probably isn't worth the filing fees alone, and it's probably not worth paying a lawyer. I would not agree to any "payment plans" they offer, and continue contesting the fact that I owe the debt (EDIT: this is really important, agreeing to a plan may be an admission that you do in fact owe the debt). These companies operate on the assumption that most people will get scared and pay, or ignore it until they can get a default judgment. Make them work, and they may give up; it's not worth the money for them to drag it out. basement jihadist fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Jan 17, 2012 |
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Jan 15, 2012 20:03
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Kind of a weird one. Seeing if it is worth it to go to Small Claims. I shipped a Toshiba Thrive 10.1" Tablet via FedEx Ship Manager on fedex.com with box dimensions 15x12x10 after I sold it on eBay. Cost for shipping with pickup was $13.26. FedEx guy came and picked up the box and sent it on it's way and it was delivered. Today I notice a $126.50 charged from FedEx and I call and find out the box dimensions were changed to 43x35x16 and was manually measured. So A) they measured wrong or B) they put it in a much larger box. Right now I emailed the person that bought it to find out if they still have the original box it was shipped in and to find out if it was my box or a box they put it in. I have another box that was the same size as the box I shipped it in (was a set of moving boxes, with the dimensions written on it), but what's to say I actually shipped it in that box? Common sense would say, why would someone ship a 10.1" Tablet in it's box which is probably 11x8x3 in a 43x35x16 box? But that really isn't much of a case if I need to go to Small Claims over it is it?
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Jan 16, 2012 19:38
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If FedEx refuses to deal with you, call your credit/debit card company and say you want a chargeback. They should reverse the charge, and I doubt FedEx will pursue the matter further. If they do, it will be through whatever dispute resolution process your bank/credit card company has, and they will probably believe your arguments about how big your laptop was.
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Jan 16, 2012 19:50
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Konstantin posted:If FedEx refuses to deal with you, call your credit/debit card company and say you want a chargeback. They should reverse the charge, and I doubt FedEx will pursue the matter further. If they do, it will be through whatever dispute resolution process your bank/credit card company has, and they will probably believe your arguments about how big your laptop was. Thanks, that was my 1st step, waiting from it to change from a Hold to a posted charge. I mean the original tablet box was 11x8x3. Now imagine that in a 43x35x16 box. Like a freaking baby rattle.
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Jan 16, 2012 19:57
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wellwhoopdedooo posted:1.) Can anybody recommend a reputable legal insurance company? I know there's things like malpractice insurance, what about just general insurance? I live in the US, and don't want to sue anybody, I'd just like to be covered from random lawsuits due to bullshit. Although I don't mind something like a PCP, I'd like to have some choice in the matter while still keeping the same insurance company. Having a go-to lawyer I can pay $200/hr to ask for a referral to a specialist lawyer to pay $400/hr for answers to questions like the following would be nice though: I really don't understand why you think you're going to get sued - "random lawsuits due to bullshit" typically don't happen to individuals. Many businesses do get sued, however, and typically they'll have a general liability policy that covers a limited number of situations. Different kinds of businesses may purchase insurance to cover specific risks. Unless you have an inkling that whatever it is you do opens you up to the risk of suit, there's no reason to purchase "legal insurance," "pre-paid legal services" (which are almost universally worthless because they don't cover much at all), or to have a lawyer "on retainer." If you run into a problem (get sued, get arrested, whatever), then hire a lawyer. If you believe that you are exposed to a certain risk of suit due to the nature of your business or something you've done, then you may want to explore whether you can buy insurance to cover that type of risk or pay a lawyer for a consult on minimizing that risk. Otherwise, save your money.
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Jan 17, 2012 17:32
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I live in VA. I have paid my apartment on time for the past two years that I have lived there, and so has my roommate. We moved in in august and paid that months rent, and then paid forward for september. However, there was a miscommunication with the security deposit.. I gave my roommate 25 bucks and told him to pay that much extra and he forgot. This was our first month of staying at the place. (not important detail, but when the roommate asked how much we owed, they told him of the 25 and that he owed extra, but they gave him the wrong amount. So he paid extra to fix this problem) Since then, we have paid 2 weeks in advance, always on time. we have never recieved a bill or invoice. However, going in today, they have $2000 in late fees that we owe. Apparently that 25 bucks that we owed from the first month caused our second month of rent to have an $85 late fee attached to it. And because we payed the normal amount (never having been told we were late or receiving any bills) for the past two years we have been charged 85 bucks+interest in late fees. Do we have any legal grounds for this? Do we not have to be notified of something that we owe? TLDR Landlord kept quiet on a 25 dollar fee we owed from the first month of rent, and two years later it has ballooned into a 2000 charge that we were never once informed of, despite paying rent on time. CheerGrrl92 fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Jan 18, 2012 |
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Jan 18, 2012 00:01
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CheerGrrl92 posted:I live in VA. I don't think that's going to fly in front of a Virginia court. I'm a Virginia lawyer (but not your lawyer, and this isn't legal advice) and I looked at the Virginia landlord-tenant act. They can charge you a late fee for late rent but I don't think they can charge you interest on a late fee that they never gave you notice of, especially when you've paid them rent for two years. For one thing, they had an opportunity to tell you about the late fee every month for two years when you paid rent, and they did not. Second, I really doubt that any judge in Virginia would uphold a $2000 debt when all but $85 of that debt is unpaid interest - it's entirely unreasonable. I would tell your landlord that they are being unreasonable and that you are more than happy to go to landlord-tenant court and sort things out with a judge. Offer to pay the $85 plus one month's interest if they don't drop the issue. You can also escalate the problem up to their senior management and explain to the higher ups. It may be that the lower peons donate just too bureaucratic and simply assume that the indent is true because their records say it is true. You could threaten to splash the whole story on yelp and consumerist.com, I suppose. Confirm this, though: have you really paid two weeks in advance very time except in the beginning? Have you truly never paid late? Also, what does your lease say about late fees? entris fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Jan 18, 2012 |
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Jan 18, 2012 00:27
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entris posted:I don't think that's going to fly in front of a Virginia court. I'm a Virginia lawyer (but not your lawyer, and this isn't legal advice) and I looked at the Virginia landlord-tenant act. They can charge you a late fee for late rent but I don't think they can charge you interest on a late fee that they never gave you notice of, especially when you've paid them rent for two years. For one thing, they had an opportunity to tell you about the late fee every month for two years when you paid rent, and they did not. Second, I really doubt that any judge in Virginia would uphold a $2000 debt when all but $85 of that debt is unpaid interest - it's entirely unreasonable. I appreciate this advice. My lease does allow for the $85 late fee. The rule is 10% of my rent is added to my account balance each month that the rent is late. That part I know I am legally liable for because that is what the terms say. However, I am just wondering if, when it comes down to it, I have a civil case on my hands if they do not budge. They have my address, phone number, email, and I talk with my landlord roughly every two months to fix a problem/they need to come by or whatever, and they have never once told us about the fact that we have any late fees. And yeah, I double checked to see that we paid in advance every time (never late) and we did. I have the records to prove it. That said, this might not be an issue. I am just thinking it might be because of the way they have treated us in the past.I will have to try and get it sorted out with someone higher up today.
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Jan 18, 2012 14:15
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