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Couple of employment-related questions. 1. Is it illegal for an employer to lie to the Department of Labor regarding the circumstances of an employee's termination in an attempt to prevent that employee from receiving unemployment? Specifically they said that two people were unable to perform their jobs, which was completely false. That is, of course, difficult to prove. 2. I realize this may not be covered in labor law at all, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I have solid evidence that people in my company are directly retaliated against (and in two cases, eventually terminated, see above) for reporting legitimate concerns about harassment and other matters to the HR department. I already know it's against the company's own written policies that everyone agrees to; I just wondered if that was also illegal. Probably not since I'm in an at-will state which has a "gently caress you" attitude towards workers (Georgia).
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Mar 29, 2012 00:51
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I live in Ontario I'm not involved in a lawsuit I'm being asked to sign the attached document because my SISTER is going to get an administrative position with the police. All my siblings must sign this waiver AND our spouses. I'm already uncomfortable with that (but not terribly surprised). As I read the waiver, it seems to me that it's basically saying that anyone who currently works for the police, or will work for the police, in any capacity whatsoever, can do anything, including kill me or my family, in the name of a record check, and I will have absolutely no recourse. In the end, my question is: should I sign it? I'm also afraid of holding out...will that not be suspicious looking (I promise I have nothing to hide). 
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Mar 29, 2012 01:05
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kripes posted:I live in Ontario If you're that uncomfortable with it, speak to a lawyer in your jurisdiction. That said, it seems to me to primarily say that you waive any claims for damages resulting from the records search. The authorization extends only to "searching all information and records to which it has access and which it considers appropriate for the purposes of the search." I don't really see how that would authorize them to shoot you, unless you have a very bizarre fact pattern that I am unaware of. It feels like it's primarily aimed at preventing you from suing them for some breach of privacy claim, or from a libel claim, intrusion on seclusion claim, etc. For instance, if you had a prior felony that you hadn't disclosed to your family, then their search turned that up and they used that to deny your sister her position, then your family got pissed at each other and you were cut out of the will. Something like that. That said, I am not a Canadian attorney (nor an attorney in another jurisdiction).
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Mar 29, 2012 01:36
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woozle wuzzle posted:If you're in the US, it's just tough. That event counts as school grounds when you're on it, just like a football game. Outside of something like a bathroom stall, there's no expectation of privacy in terms of school discipline. Schools have a lot more latitude with that than the police. That said... Realize that even if legally you can't do anything, it's not that hard to get bad publicity for this kind of thing and school districts don't really like showing up in newspapers. Talk to your local ACLU, they might make some noise on your behalf.
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Mar 29, 2012 02:47
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Uhhh... The ACLU wouldn't care at all. There's no civil liberty involved here. And what bad publicity? I can see the headlines now: "Local school closely monitors its event!" "Kids flip the bird with no expectation of privacy, get caught, must apologize!" "Parents: did you know your school checks behind the photobooth curtain at prom! "ACLU reports uprise in prank calls from teens that want constitutional protection from legitimate school discipline!" Sorry Winszton, it might seem lame, but there's nothing wrong with the school monitoring the pictures taken in those booths at prom. In fact, they'd probably have liability if they didn't. woozle wuzzle fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Mar 29, 2012 |
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Mar 29, 2012 03:27
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woozle wuzzle posted:Uhhh... The ACLU wouldn't care at all. There's no civil liberty involved here. And what bad publicity? I can see the headlines now: The ACLU is pretty solidly on the "privacy is a civil liberty" side of things, even if you aren't. I've worked with some of their lawyers on privacy issues, this is very much the sort of thing a local chapter would at least talk with him about. It's not as bad as the Middleton case, but it's still not good. And I think the fact that the school kept copies of the students' photos from the photobooth at prom is kind of an obvious problem, privacy-wise. They weren't checking them at the printer - they got called into the principal's office the next week and sat down with a copy of the photo. Then they're told "get your parents to sign this photo" with an implied or else. Exactly what is the student supposed to be apologizing for, flipping the bird at a camera when they expected (reasonably) to be the only ones to see it? Or would you think it's fine if your neighborhood CVS took a quick look through copies of everyone's photos after they print them at the minilab? edit: Let me give you some alternate headlines that any halfway decent ACLU lawyer would come up with in 5 seconds. "School principal peeps behind photobooth curtain at innocent teens having fun." "School principal caught printing out copies of photos of students." "School principal trying to shame students out of expressing themselves at prom." "Student photographs used for blackmail by principal." etc. Kalman fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Mar 29, 2012 |
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Mar 29, 2012 04:24
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So my sister decided to leave our mother's house for good recently. She's 22 and still in school and has moved in with her boyfriend. She has not changed her legal address. Our mother will not let her back into the house to collect the stuff from her room (mostly clothes, DVDs, etc). My sister does not like this, so she is threatening our mother with legal action. Does my sister have a valid cause of action (I'm thinking if any it would be under chattel)? They both live in New York State.
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Mar 29, 2012 04:26
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Kalman posted:The ACLU is pretty solidly on the "privacy is a civil liberty" side of things, even if you aren't. I've worked with some of their lawyers on privacy issues, this is very much the sort of thing a local chapter would at least talk with him about. It's not as bad as the Middleton case, but it's still not good. Did the school collect a standard photo release? Could this be even a consideration?
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Mar 29, 2012 04:31
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TheBigBad posted:Did the school collect a standard photo release? Could this be even a consideration? They're not exploiting it commercially, so, probably not.
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Mar 29, 2012 04:40
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I'm pretty sure CVS does check photos as they are being printed. Or they check a roll here or there. Otherwise it'd be easy as pie to print child porn or something. Can some CVS goons back me on this? I remember posts about this in the retail thread. If the students had had their photos taken while they were touching each other sexually, or, gently caress it, flashing the camera, would the invasion of privacy still apply, because this is a school-sponsored function, right? I mean, gently caress, teachers in public schools can't even post pictures of themselves on Facebook with a glass of wine or in a bar. As much as I disagree with that, in this case I assume the prom was a school-held event and the photographer was being paid by the school?
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Mar 29, 2012 04:45
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Cowslips Warren posted:I'm pretty sure CVS does check photos as they are being printed. Or they check a roll here or there. Otherwise it'd be easy as pie to print child porn or something. Can some CVS goons back me on this? I remember posts about this in the retail thread. I'm talking their minilabs, not roll development - the things you stick a USB stick into and get some photos printed out of. If those saved copies and later CVS went through those copies, I'm pretty sure most people are going to consider that a privacy problem. There was no photographer, in this case. It's a small booth with a camera and a photo printer attached to it. You go in, sit down, the screen flashes, four photos get taken, and a minute later you get a strip of photos handed to you. No humans in the loop. Events rent them for a couple grand for the night - the student's prom money probably went at least partially to paying for the photobooth. And yes, if they were flashing the camera, I'm pretty sure that the principal printing off copies the next day is still a problem - probably even worse than in this case. Imagine if your principal called you into the office and said "I have a picture of your genitals - if your parents don't sign it, you're in trouble." I mean. Seriously, think through the implications of school officials having access to those photos.
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Mar 29, 2012 05:24
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Details I didn't have about the photobooth prom question, or didn't think to include: It is a private school in Texas. I found the photobooth company online and apparently a CD of all the night's pictures is part of the 'standard package' offered. The school's event coordinator, who had told the student council (according to some students at least, not proof, but I'm asking more out of legal curiosity than anything else anyhow) that no one would see the photos. She was assumable the one to order the photobooth (billed to the school itself though probably), and was the one who went through the pictures and alerted the principal about the few people flipping off the camera, and gave him those photos which he printed off, and ordered those students to take it home and have it signed by both parents. My gf just forged the signatures and is hoping the principal doesn't contact her parents to confirm their validity, as he said he would. We are both 18. Also the event wasn't held on school grounds if that is relevant. I'm guessing that the fact that it's a private school pretty much voids any argument on liberty or privacy, but I'd be interested to hear a more educated opinion. At my old texas private school a kid got kicked out for a rumor he had gay sex, and before that was told not to speak about his sexuality if he wanted to stay. So I guess it's typical. This highschool my gf goes to is really kind of odd though. The Prom had no dancing or music, just an 'illusionist' who managed to insert Deuteronomy and Psalms into his act that we watched while eating catered food at a fancy hotel's banquet room.
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Mar 29, 2012 05:59
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Not your lawyer, not a lawyer in your jurisdiction, this is not legal advice or an offer of representation.Powdered Toast Man posted:Couple of employment-related questions. Not being able to do your job well isn't usually a legal grounds to deny unemployment in the first place: the refusal to do the job in the first place, or willfully doing a bad or lazy job is what generally results in a claim denial. This is what the Georgia DOL website has to say: Can I draw benefits if I was fired? posted:If you were fired from your job, you will not be able to draw benefits if your former employer can show that you were fired for failure to follow rules, orders, or instructions, or for misconduct on the job. The only way to know for sure whether you are eligible if you are fired is to file a claim. The department cannot make a predetermination of eligibility before a claim is filed. Powdered Toast Man posted:2. I realize this may not be covered in labor law at all, but I thought I'd ask anyway. I have solid evidence that people in my company are directly retaliated against (and in two cases, eventually terminated, see above) for reporting legitimate concerns about harassment and other matters to the HR department. I already know it's against the company's own written policies that everyone agrees to; I just wondered if that was also illegal. Probably not since I'm in an at-will state which has a "gently caress you" attitude towards workers (Georgia). Federal law prohibits retaliation against an employee for reporting illegal employer harassment. The employees should contact their local EEOC branch to let them know what's up.
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Mar 29, 2012 09:05
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ibntumart posted:Not being able to do your job well isn't usually a legal grounds to deny unemployment in the first place: the refusal to do the job in the first place, or willfully doing a bad or lazy job is what generally results in a claim denial. Both of the former employees in question were able to get their unemployment after contesting what the company said about them to the DOL. I guess my question was whether the company would face any penalties for lying. I'd certainly love to see them suffer. ibntumart posted:Federal law prohibits retaliation against an employee for reporting illegal employer harassment. The employees should contact their local EEOC branch to let them know what's up. I suppose I'll have to look into what constitutes illegal harassment, but I have a feeling it only extends to protected things like race and religion.
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Mar 29, 2012 12:43
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Powdered Toast Man posted:like race and religion. Race, nationality, age, disability, sex, ethnicity, religion, pregnancy, and probably another one I am forgetting.
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Mar 29, 2012 13:48
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Today in Germany, Groupon offered me an honorary doctorate. It seems to come from a church in MIami that normally awards them in exchange for "donations." Is this legal? Can anyone in America award an honorary PhD? Are there no regulations at all on diploma mills there? If this is the case, I want to found my own religion in America and sell people doctorates in subjects I made up.
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Mar 29, 2012 15:53
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US colleges and universities are accredited by private organizations. Honorary degrees and doctorates are not real degrees and doctorates.
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Mar 29, 2012 16:07
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euphronius posted:US colleges and universities are accredited by private organizations. Honorary degrees and doctorates are not real degrees and doctorates. Yes, I actually have a doctorate from an American university that I got the old fashioned way. In Germany, we have laws about who can call himself "Dr." or "Prof." but it seems like this is not the case in the U.S. It would also be illegal for me to sell people imaginary degrees or claim to be a church here, but maybe that is okay in America as long as you don't claim to be accredited? I am trying to figure out whether you have any regulation over pretend degrees and titles, or anything goes.
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Mar 29, 2012 16:18
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You can not advertise yourself as a Doctor or Lawyer without actually being one. That is unlawful in the US. It is perfectly lawful to walk into a party and demand everyone call you Doctor or Esquire. Basically if you are advertising (ie commercial speech) some degree or credential you don't actually have, that is bad. But if it is just talking to people* or putting it on your resume* that is not unlawful. * may get you fired or sued for fraud. But you can call yourself "Dr Floor Cleaner" or "Professor Tree Trimmer" or something like as along as it is clear you arent actually a Dr.
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Mar 29, 2012 16:21
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Winszton posted:It is a private school in Texas. I found the photobooth company online and apparently a CD of all the night's pictures is part of the 'standard package' offered. The school's event coordinator, who had told the student council (according to some students at least, not proof, but I'm asking more out of legal curiosity than anything else anyhow) that no one would see the photos. She was assumable the one to order the photobooth (billed to the school itself though probably), and was the one who went through the pictures and alerted the principal about the few people flipping off the camera, and gave him those photos which he printed off, and ordered those students to take it home and have it signed by both parents. Liability would have to arise from some sort of tort, and I can't think of any recognized invasion of privacy occurring from the facts presented -- the Big Four circumstances of liability for breaching another person's "privacy" being (1) intrusion upon seclusion or solitude, or into private affairs; (2) public disclosure of embarrassing private facts; (3) publicity which places a person in a false light in the public eye; and (4) appropriation of name or likeness. Jurisdictional differences develop what facts fall into the different categories, but a lay understanding makes it hard to fit the facts into any of these categories of liability for breach of privacy. Naturally, this is not legal advice because legal advice would be looking into the law of your jurisdiction to determine if there is potential liability. I am merely discussing the abstract concepts of potential legal liability which has no bearing on the actual reality of your circumstances.
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Mar 29, 2012 16:27
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kripes posted:I live in Ontario For basically any position of sensitivity that involves a thorough look at someone's history you'll have to sign something similar. If you're working at the courts, or as a lawyer, or with the police, anything like that. Basically what it's about is releasing them from a common law or statutory liability from finding out something embarrassing or damaging about you. General waivers like that -- we will not be held liable in ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AT ALL NO MATTER WHAT -- may not be enforceable, depending on the whole context. Like, if you go skiing and sign a release, and then get run over by a drunken employee of the ski hill tearing around on a skidoo, the release probably isn't going to protect them no matter what it said. So if for some reason they ended up shooting you, which you seem to be concerned about, the waiver may not hold up. If they just end up finding out that you've been bankrupt and have a conviction on your record for fraud and blackmailing, your sister's application may hit a bump, and you won't be able to sue. If you're really concerned, or if you do have something to hide, you may want to talk to a lawyer about it. not legal advice, not intended to be relied upon
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Mar 29, 2012 17:23
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psydude posted:My landlady has apparently neglected to pay my water bill (it's outlined in the lease) and my water was just turned off. I live in Maryland, which defers a lot of these types of things to the counties, but I'm having a lot of problems finding what my rights and options are in this situation. I'm fairly certain that I can break the lease without penalty, but I don't know how long I would be able to remain in this apartment until I move (the earliest I could move in to another place would be the 5th). She's known about this for probably 2 months now; I'm pretty fed up. Any help would be appreciated. I don't know where you are and I'm probably not a lawyer there, but you might want to point your google to "constructive eviction" and see if it applies where you are. It has been a while since I ever looked into this, but this might be that claim where you have to move out of the place before you can make it. If it is that claim, then you can usually claim damages for having to move just like your landlord could sue you for the rent she didn't get while she was trying to find someone else to move in. (Oh man, its been years, I hope I'm not completely wrong. and just embarrassing myself.) That said, you're talking about a lawsuit. So go talk to a lawyer if you want to really look into it. As for staying, I don't understand the question? I guess you could just wait to break the lease. I would say that it might undermine your argument that the place was untenable, but running water is usually necessary in most jurisdiction. Still, I'm not your lawyer and I don't know your situation well enough to give real legal advice. You'll have to look it up or hire a lawyer.
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Mar 29, 2012 19:50
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Solomirathnius posted:So my sister decided to leave our mother's house for good recently. She's 22 and still in school and has moved in with her boyfriend. She has not changed her legal address. Our mother will not let her back into the house to collect the stuff from her room (mostly clothes, DVDs, etc). My sister does not like this, so she is threatening our mother with legal action. Probably, if the stuff was purchased with her own money, as opposed to her mother's money. She should make a list of everything that she wants to take, along with replacement costs. Then she should send a letter to her mother asking to either ship the items to her new address or schedule a time for her to pick them up. If she refuses, you would probably have a good case in small claims for the replacement costs.
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Mar 29, 2012 19:57
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I'm not sure if I should be posting this in the apartment megathread or here. I'm in Baton Rouge, LA. The situation is I've (and my boyfriend, but I've been handling all the lease stuff though we're both on it) been renting a condo from my landlord since May 2011. We're discussing the lease renewal now, and he wants to draw up an entirely new lease. At the start of the last lease, I put down $850 for a security deposit, with half of it going towards a non-refundable pet deposit. For the renewal, he's now asking for another $425 nonrefundable pet fee/deposit to bring the deposit back up to $850. (I was kind of confused at this, because everywhere else I've rented from, they rolled the deposits over with lease renewals even for nonrefundable deposits.) But then in an email to me, he also mentioned he's tempted to just "have [us] get renters' insurance and leave the security deposit as is." When I asked him to clarify, he said he would prefer this scenario if it was understood there would be no return of my remaining $425 in escrow at the end of the lease. I know he is an insurance agent for State Farm and I suspect he is just trying to get another client through us for renters'. Which, to be honest, I'd be OK with getting renters' though him and skipping another $425 up front. But as far as I know, renters' only covers damage in the case of disaster, not for damage made by the renter. We're very careful about taking care of the place, but I'm worried that, in the event something happens, we'd be on the hook to pay without that remaining deposit. I'm not even sure about the legality of all of this, honestly. I've looked through my state's landlord-tenant laws but I haven't found anything really applicable to this situation. For what it's worth, this landlord has been pretty flaky on us... he promised to have the carpets steam-cleaned and entire condo professionally cleaned before we moved in, but he didn't. The kitchen was literally full of dishware, crockery, silverware, pots and pans from the last tenant (who broke her lease in the middle and left immediately), which he didn't even know had been left behind until he was walking through the place with us on our first day. He also promised to replace the smoke alarms, but he didn't, which I'm pretty sure is incredibly illegal -- we don't have any smoke alarms whatsoever right now. At one point last year, my boyfriend and I were locked out of our complex because our clickers simultaneously stopped working; when we went to the office, we found out it was because he was late paying our condo association fees for about 4 months, even though we pay him those fees as part of our rent. There are some other minor things, but overall, my point is, I don't necessarily trust him not to try to throw something at us at the end of the lease re the security deposit -- not even out of malice or greed, but just out of plain ignorance. I just want to protect myself from getting into any sort of back-and-forth at the end. I know someone will probably ask why would I renew with someone as flaky as this, but I work full-time and am getting my masters and my boyfriend is starting commercial diving school in a week -- we simply don't have the time or money right now to find a new place and move. Obviously if things hit the fan, and we have to, we will, but otherwise we'd rather tough it out for another year while saving up money to move somewhere better.
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Mar 30, 2012 21:52
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chuchumeister posted:He also promised to replace the smoke alarms, but he didn't, which I'm pretty sure is incredibly illegal -- we don't have any smoke alarms whatsoever right now.  I'm not anything close to a lawyer - I just like reading this thread, but as a fellow human being please get a smoke alarm immediately. Is  worth dying over?
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Mar 30, 2012 22:01
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Andy Dufresne posted:
No, I know, that's partially our fault.  It's just one of those things I honestly keep forgetting about. "Next time we go to Walmart..."
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Mar 30, 2012 22:06
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chuchumeister posted:No, I know, that's partially our fault. Maybe not. In Oregon, the landlord is responsible that smoke detectors are installed and in working order. They also recently added in carbon monoxide detectors as well.
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Mar 30, 2012 22:15
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Renter's insurance is a good idea for anybody, its like $15 bucks a month and can cover a lot of things (like break ins, often including breakins to your car if its parked out front). So if you can get a deal for having it, it's not a bad idea. In terms of the smoke alarms and other maintenance: Talk to him about it, saying you'll fix/repair that stuff and subtract the costs from your rent. You'll get him copies of the receipts, and just straight deduct it from the next month of rent. If he's not a moron, he'll readily accept because it means zero work for him.
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Mar 30, 2012 23:52
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Hey all, I'm dealing with a parking ticket in Pittsburgh, PA, and yes it's way more exciting than one'd expect and worth a post here. Story: Last Summer I sold my aunt's car to somebody else, but forgot to remove the plates. And yes, this was done with her consent and I handed over the signed title (from VA which doesn't require it to be notarized). Today, I get a call from my aunt about receiving a summons (illegally parked) with a date of offense to sometime in January. Obviously, we didn't own the car at the time. But, because of this, I believe the buyer never bothered to retitle and register the car. I still have the original Bill of Sale floating around and intend to check with DMV to make sure it has been retitled. Questions: Can we just tell the guy to pay the fines and be done with it or does somebody have to go to court? If so, I assume it'd be trivial for my aunt to make me her agent for this minor case, as in, simply giving me an affidavit. Is there a way for me to check and see if there'll be any more "surprises" over this? Either through checking with VIN or license plate number?
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Mar 31, 2012 00:05
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Folly posted:I don't know where you are and I'm probably not a lawyer there, but you might want to point your google to "constructive eviction" and see if it applies where you are. Thanks for the help. I threatened to do this and she got her rear end in gear and got it turned back on. I'd like to take a minute to point out how bullshit it is that landlord tenant law apparently isn't a two way street. Can't wait to move out of here.
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Mar 31, 2012 00:31
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chuchumeister posted:I'm not sure if I should be posting this in the apartment megathread or here. I live in Baton Rouge, and you need to realize that the protections afforded by law to renters here are pretty low. Just about every dispute you have with your landlord requires you to go to court, and the landlords can get away with almost anything by claiming that they were acting in good faith and made a mistake. Even if they did something wrong, you usually won't even get the filing fees back because of the "good faith" shield. I know it doesn't work that way anywhere else, but "Bienvenue en Louisiane!" If you don't have a good lease, you really should walk away. Your lease is your only protection, there is no safety net here provided by statute in case of a bad lease. Some of the places here have absolutely terrible leases, and they know it. One I remember in particular required the tenant to repair any damage caused by storms or leaking pipes. Not damage that wasn't reported, any damage. And they refused to negotiate. Last time I was looking for a place, I started asking for copies of the lease when I requested to view a house or apartment. Any place that refused to let me see the lease I walked away from - they are just trying to trap people. One place wouldn't let me see a lease unless I put down a deposit - huge red flag. If you are looking for a new place, people around here have just discovered craigslist, and you can find some great deals on it especially near campus. Also check the classifieds in the Advocate, a lot of non-internet savvy people rent property here for cheap. Asking for an additional non-refundable pet deposit is just scummy, even in this area. Does your landlord think the pet is going to do even more damage over the next year? What probably happened is that your landlord already spent the portion of your security deposit he was supposed to reserve, and is looking to get some more money to hopefully be able to refund you if he can't trump up enough damages when you move out. Its a big red flag, and he is supposed to to keep those funds separate, but he is not required to tell you where they are kept or allow you to verify that he has not spent them in any way. And you will have to go to court to get him to pay up; and court here is stacked heavily in favor of the landlords. You have to prove that you left the place as you found it, they do no not have to prove damages. They are supposed to have to prove damages, but talk to anyone who has gone to court here - they don't. As for renters insurance, unless you get a rider that covers damage to the unit, renters insurance only covers damage to or theft of your property, and usually a decent amount of liability in case someone visits your house (or walks through your yard here, or on the sidewalk in front of your house, you can be liable for that here) and gets injured. On the plus side, you should be able to get about $10-15k in personal property coverage with a $500 deductible for around $200/year, which is cheaper than the landlord trying to rip you off for over $400, which I bet he does. So, good luck, and even though it is a rough time to move, I would advise moving over signing a bad lease. Or try asking the landlord if you can pay a little more to go month-to-month until the end of the semester, then bail. It will be tougher for him to find a new tenant now anyway. If you do that though, make sure you get a new month-to-month lease in writing, along with notification requirements for when you can end the lease. Also remember, if you have a scummy landlord who is vindictive enough to sue: here, like most states, they are not limited to the amount of the security deposit here. And with the court's tendency not to make them prove damages here (remember you effectively have to prove lack of damage) that can get expensive. Its best to sever a relationship with a bad landlord ASAP.
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Mar 31, 2012 00:32
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Thank you to Arcturas and hypocrite lecteur for their responses. I signed the drat thing. Nice knowing ya!
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Mar 31, 2012 01:45
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bigpolar posted:real talk I was born in BR, so I'm pretty familiar with the absolute kangaroo court that is Louisiana law, but your post really hit it home for me. I was trying to avoid trouble down the road for us, but I see now it'll be way more of a headache to try to continue with him. Slightly awk because I already told him we'd renew the lease, but oh well. The bigger question is why I continue to live in a state which just voted for Santorum in the primaries...
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Mar 31, 2012 02:05
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chuchumeister posted:I was born in BR, so I'm pretty familiar with the absolute kangaroo court that is Louisiana law, ... Yeah I was born in Zachary, and grew up around southeast LA so the atmosphere of corruption is nothing new to me. But, my first renting experiences were in Florida, where I went to school. Florida is not a great state to rent in, but it has a lot of protections built into law at the state level that Louisiana does not have. When I ended up back here, I expected the law to be broadly similar, and I didn't research it. I ended up with a nice looking apartment but a terrible landlord. I had a lot of issues with bad wiring and pest infestation when I first moved in, that the landlord refused to fix, and I learned through research that I pretty much had to live with them. But what really brought it home to me was having my apartment broken into, via having the door kicked in. It ruined the door and the door frame, and required a lot of time and materials to make it look right again. The landlord's response was to order the carpenter to buy a thinner door, and hang the door in such a way that the deadbolt no longer engaged the frame, but just the molding. So my landlord made it easier for thugs to kick in my door again, and cheaper for him to repair when it happened. I did a lot of research, and talked to a lot of people, and found that there was nothing I could realistically do without spending more in legal fees than I owed in rent for the remainder of the lease. My wife was still living in Florida at the time, and she was incredibly stressed out over the situation. I ended up having to go live with relatives while I payed rent on a lovely apartment that was too dangerous to live in. Ever since then, I go through leases with a fine toothed comb. And I negotiate with the landlord. And if they won't negotiate, I walk. I actually thought the lease I signed was OK, but without the state law mandating reasonable conditions, and without judges who will enforce it, it really wasn't. As far as the town, this town sucks. But LSU football is ok (not as fun and classy as UF, but ok), LSU is at least a tier 1 school in most disciplines, the food is better than anywhere else on earth, and the natural beauty of the area is not far away. Seriously, have you been to Tunica Hills, Port Hudson, or the Bonne Carre spillway hiking trails? Amazing places. But, the pro's don't outweigh the cons, so I will be surprised if I stay here following our graduations (My wife and I are both at LSU, she for her PhD, me for my Masters). Again, good luck. If you post an email, I'll let you know if I hear of any apts or houses coming open before the end of the semester.
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Mar 31, 2012 02:29
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chuchumeister posted:I know he is an insurance agent for State Farm and I suspect he is just trying to get another client through us for renters'. Which, to be honest, I'd be OK with getting renters' though him and skipping another $425 up front. I know this isn't the issue at hand, but it would be illegal for him to sell you the insurance and then drop the deposit. If that is what he was going for, even more reason to move.
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Mar 31, 2012 14:50
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CDG posted:I know this isn't the issue at hand, but it would be illegal for him to sell you the insurance and then drop the deposit. If that is what he was going for, even more reason to move. I wasn't very clear in my OP, but this was kind of what I was trying to suss out. That is exactly what he is proposing right now. I am emailing him now, seeing if he's willing to change the lease to be more in our favor, but telling him otherwise that we won't be renewing. I know he sounds pretty awful in my posts, but I really think he's just kind of clueless and ignorant about the law. Also, as bigpolar pointed out, LA is pretty bad for tenants -- I wouldn't be surprised if a lawyer buddy of his told him this was cool to do, considering how good ole boy the courts here are. On the one hand, I can't blame him for trying to look out for his own interests as a landlord, but obviously I can't be in a situation that is actively working against me and potentially illegal to boot. I appreciate the help, everyone.
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Mar 31, 2012 21:10
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BirdOfPlay posted:Can we just tell the guy to pay the fines and be done with it or does somebody have to go to court? If so, I assume it'd be trivial for my aunt to make me her agent for this minor case, as in, simply giving me an affidavit. I am not a lawyer in Virginia. First, stop a sec. You are treading dangerously close to the practice of law without a license, which is a crime in most states. You probably can't represent your aunt in a court proceeding unless you're a lawyer. That's generally one of those things that always counts as "the practice of law" in pretty much every state. At this point, your aunt is involved in a (admittedly minor) criminal proceeding, so standard thread advice is to get a lawyer. Don't take it lightly because it started as a parking ticket. Where I am, which is not VA, parking tickets don't usually result in a summons. Here, that would happen if you got a citation with a full-on court date and then missed the court date. I might or might not have been close to having my license suspended due to missing a court date for a parking citation when I was 16. So, in some states, this can add up to real penalties. I don't know the law where you are so I can't tell what's true there. Your aunt, not you, could probably call the chambers of the judge, ASAP, and explain what happened. They would probably tell her what she needs to do next. If she's lucky, and the state allows it, they'll tell her to send in her paperwork along with what paperwork to send and how, then drop the summons. Even in the best of situations, that would probably be totally at the judge's discretion, so be polite. Don't rely on this as legal advice. There are lots of other things your aunt could do. And you and your aunt probably already know to take a summons seriously.
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Apr 2, 2012 16:11
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I am in sort of a lovely weird situation. I got married 3 1/2 years ago to my then girlfriend who is not a US citizen. After about a year and a half poo poo fell apart and we started fighting constantly and she moved in with her sister. We sort of stayed together in an on again/off again thing for a while after that until she eventually decided she wanted to move to New York. When she moved to New York I told her that I had no interest in lying to the INS, so when we were called in for the inevitable interview we told them that we had split and how she was living in NY for the time being etc. They also asked why we haven't gotten a divorce of course. The reason for that is basically just pure laziness. I had intended to pursue it earlier on, but being married to her wasn't really inconvenient and neither one of us was looking forward to dealing with it. This has lead to her being denied by the ins. She just found this out yesterday. She will be seeing her lawyer today so I am sure she will be briefed on her options (Hope there are some for her sake)so I am not really concerned with that. What I am wondering is where does that leave us as far as marital status is concerned? Does the marriage remain or become nullified or what? I have no idea. Also, what are the chances that I am going to have to go to court over this? The INS is already aware of the situation but I am worried that I have handled this so stupidly that I am going to end up in a hot seat.
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Apr 2, 2012 21:13
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I moved from New York from Connecticut to take a job signed on as an "independent contractor" in my industry. I signed a contract with them for 40 percent after which the receptionist added on "20 percent while learning." without discussing it with me. They let me go after two weeks and have been depositing my money into my friend's account. I have a paycheck for 35 dollars and have no idea what it is for. Should I be pressing legal action? Edit: they also made me purchase insurance which came out of my friend's account themindisonfire fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Apr 2, 2012 |
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Apr 2, 2012 21:21
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NESguerilla posted:I am in sort of a lovely weird situation. I got married 3 1/2 years ago to my then girlfriend who is not a US citizen. After about a year and a half poo poo fell apart and we started fighting constantly and she moved in with her sister. We sort of stayed together in an on again/off again thing for a while after that until she eventually decided she wanted to move to New York. Marriage is marriage. It has nothing to do with immigration status. She can gain residency, or be deported and blacklisted from the country. It doesn't affect her legal marital status. It may be a good idea to get divorced asap. If she gets deported, then it is going to be a lot more a hassle to get divorced if you are in different countries.
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Apr 2, 2012 21:38
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