|
State: Georgia Is there a minimum tax amount that MUST be paid on beer sales for a restaurant with a license? In short, my mother is selling $0.01 beer. SlayVus fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Sep 27, 2013 |
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 17:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 02:03 |
|
|
SlayVus posted:State: Georgia You need an attorney who knows the municipal (and possibly county) laws that apply at the restaurant as well as the state laws. (Or try asking the state liquor folks and the city and county tax folks)
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 17:55
|
|
|
State: California My Wife's ex is filing all sorts of lawsuits against her. It feels like loving terrorism. Every few months, he files something, and drags her up to Northern California so she has to fight it. Everyone's life gets put on hold for him to bitch and whine about really inconsequential stuff that usually gets dismissed. He doesn't have a job, he doesn't pay child support, he just gets drunk and files litigation. At what point can a good attorney have him declared a vexatious litigant? We've tried to handle this on our own, because we can't afford legal fees, and he's trying to throw her in Jail with a contempt of court charge for "missing 4 phone calls, over the span of 5 years," I'm not even kidding, she has a court appointed lawyer because of this, and we have a phone meeting with him on Monday, and I feel like just asking him if we can hire him to do all of this stuff. I'm so frustrated right now. Can you guys offer any advice for when we talk to the Attorney on Monday? I just want to get this all handled. Thanks.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 18:08
|
|
|
Drunk filing should be probatable. She could probably try and get sanctions against him. Who knows though, CA law is bizarre. North Korean law is probably more knowable.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 18:11
|
|
|
I'm not barred in CA, so can't offer you any particular advice, but you may want to look into that state's vexatious litigant statutes/proceedings. No clue if CA's individual statute would apply, but it does exist to handle people who bring repeated frivolous suits, motions, etc. If nothing else, you could ask the attorney to whom you're speaking and they could give you more guidance.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 18:13
|
|
|
Our local court just added a $75 fee on all custody petitions for this very reason. However, custody petitions have not gone down as expected and now the Prothonotary is sitting on a huge chunk of money.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 18:16
|
|
|
Thanks for the replies so far, My Wife's ex has the money to file all these motions and as of this morning, he somehow obtained a lawyer, who is trying to add more charges to the contempt of court charge. I don't even see how this is possible, she makes every good faith effort to comply with the order. I mean, even to the point of being ridiculous. But sometimes cars break down, or kids go to summer camp, and with a reasonable co-parent you call them and let them know, and you work with them for the sake of the kids, but not with him, it's just fuel for him to file charges. My ex and I don't really like each other, but we work with each other to accommodate the circumstances of life, that's impossible with this guy.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 18:34
|
|
|
Family law does not bring out the best in humans.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 18:43
|
|
|
If she sees the court getting particularly grumpy at the ex, she could also ask for attorney fees or costs for attending the hearings. It's unlikely, but possible, that the judge will make him reimburse her for flying up.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 18:48
|
|
|
Should be sleeping posted:State: California Not a lawyer, but I have women in my DV support groups who've had this situation. Some of their exes have managed to piss the judge off enough that s/he actually put a modification in the decree in the form of a restraining order from frivolous litigation, with all visitation/access rights hanging on it. In other words, they file dumb poo poo and the judge permanently yanks their child custody. I know some other women whose judges have ordered the vexatious party to pay all legal fees. If you can, I'd suggest doing the legwork on your own and creating a bullet point timeline with every time this person has taken you to court, a breakdown of costs, and each outcome/ruling. It could help establish a pattern of abuse/control via misuse of the court system. You never know what will fly in family court. This has worked well for some people, for others (others in the same states, I might add) it's done nothing. It probably won't make things any worse, at least.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2013 23:39
|
|
|
Should be sleeping posted:State: California The California Code of Civil Procedure defines vexatious litigants under CCP § 391(b), which you can read here. You can look over the statute to see if the ex falls under any of the categories and bring that up with the lawyer you're talking with on Monday. Do note that to be a vexatious litigant requires the person to have been filing pro se, but you mention that the ex only just now retained a lawyer, so hopefully that won't be an issue for you guys.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2013 00:57
|
|
|
Can someone translate this for me? Washington State:http://caselaw.findlaw.com/wa-supreme-court/1112456.html posted:¶ 52 In the rape case, Gregory pleaded not guilty and before trial he changed his defense from denial to consent; he admitted to having had sex with R.S., but claimed the encounter was consensual. The jury was instructed that to convict Gregory of any one of the three counts of first degree rape, it had to conclude that the sexual intercourse occurred as the result of “forcible compulsion.” RCP at 480-82. The jury was also instructed that “[t]he burden is on the defendant to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the sexual intercourse was consensual.” RCP at 483. This instruction defined consent to mean “at the time of the act of sexual intercourse there are actual words or conduct indicating freely given agreement to have sexual intercourse.” RCP at 483; see also RCW 9A.44.010(7). The defense requested an instruction that defined consent but did not impose a separate burden apart from the burden on the prosecution to prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt.20 I sure can't "reliably grasp" this. It seems like the state is simultaneously requiring the prosecution and the defense to prove something. Isn't the default legal assumption "innocent until proven guilty", which would preclude the need for the defendant to prove anything? Also, the comparison to self-defense seems terrible, since self-defense is a positive claim of "Yeah, I killed the guy, but I had a good reason"; whereas sex itself is not an illegal act and requires no justification. So do I need to get a form signed to have sex in Washington?
|
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2013 10:58
|
|
|
In short, we can't require criminal defendants to disprove the state's case; that's unconstitutional. However, in certain cases, a defendant may be required to prove a defense he asserts. In the rape context, the defendant can't be required to disprove the elements of rape (i.e. forcible intercourse without consent) because the state has to prove those elements. However, where the defendant raised the defense of consent, he would have to prove consent. Some states do it differently, where the defendant would just have to show a bare minimum of evidence suggesting consent and then the state would have to disprove it to prevail. The text you quoted is pretty much the court explaining why the jurisdiction's burden shifting is constitutional in that it's not requiring the defendant to disprove the state's case. A defendant can be found not guilty either because the state did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt or the defendant proved an affirmative defense. In this case, some of the proof of the affirmative defense is the same evidence that would tend to introduce reasonable doubt, so the court has to explain where the burdens of proof are coming from. the milk machine fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Sep 29, 2013 |
|
#
?
Sep 29, 2013 15:37
|
|
|
State: Pennsylvania A lease for an apartment says "The rental agreement will proceed on a month to month basis until the lease expires on March 1st 2014." There is no mention of notice required to terminate the lease. Can I move out any month with no notice or 1 month notice?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 02:58
|
|
|
So I'm in Mesa, AZ, pulled over for my second dumbass DUI offense. (Second extreme, to be exact.) BAC isn't back yet, but I blew pretty high. Arraignment's this week, and I've been on the fence about hiring a private attorney. I'm not poor (barely), but obviously he's not cheap. I really have no desire to try and get off the hook-- I just want to minimize the damage. I have a few people telling me to wait to see what kind of plea deal they have at the arraignment before pulling the trigger on the lawyer. Others say that having a hired gun at my first court date will aid me further in the bargaining process. Any thoughts on this? Is there any drawback to going it alone on my first appearance in hopes to save some coin?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 05:30
|
|
|
Hire the attorney. I imagine that's going to be the consensus of the thread and not because we're trying to protect the guild. The trouble with going it alone is always, always that you don't know what you don't know. You don't know if you have case-specific strengths or weaknesses that impact your situation. Are you in front of the hangin' judge who lost a teen to a drunk driver and won't accept certain pleas? Were you pulled over by an officer who routinely ignores the testing protocols for the DataMaster (or whatever)? Were you given a field sobriety test that's regularly employed but actually inadmissible in your state? Are you getting an offer that's on the low/middle/high end for someone in your situation? Etc. Moreover, as an attorney, the worst disasters happen when you get brought in too late. When I was clerking, one of the most common refrains I heard from retained attorneys was something along the lines of "He had a perfectly straightforward case but he tried to handle it himself. So now I'm trying to clean that up, too." Additionally, your attorney will tell you how to display to the court and the prosecution that you realize you've screwed up and you want to make sure it never happens again. The sooner you hire the attorney, the sooner you can get cracking. ("He's had three days free and he's been to three meetings in that time" -- that's the sort of thing that can only help you.) You want to minimize the damage to your life. The best way to do that is to get the damage control person in your corner ASAP. You've got enough difficulty ahead without trying to defuse a bomb on top of it all. You aren't equipped for that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 06:15
|
|
|
Drink-Mix Man posted:So I'm in Mesa, AZ, pulled over for my second dumbass DUI offense. (Second extreme, to be exact.) BAC isn't back yet, but I blew pretty high. Arraignment's this week, and I've been on the fence about hiring a private attorney. I'm not poor (barely), but obviously he's not cheap. For a 1st DUI, it kind of depends. For a second DUI, you need a drat lawyer. Also, as a criminal defense attorney who does a lot of DUIs: Anyone can get a first DUI (anyone who drinks). Not so with a second DUI. You almost certainly have a problem with alcohol. You may be in denial about this, but if the pain of the first DUI wasn't enough to keep you from consuming any alcohol before driving, you have a problem. My free advice is this. Stop drinking. Today. If you find you can't do it alone, you need to get yourself to AA or something stronger. I'm not trying to preach to you, but no one in a healthy place in life is racking up 2 high BAC DUIs.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 06:39
|
|
|
Thanks, guys. Yeah, I've been sober since I got pulled over. (Well, I drank myself to sleep in self-loathing that night, but since then anyway.) I questioned whether I had a drinking problem up until then, but it seems like the verdict is in. (No pun intended.) I'll be going to counseling of my own volition tomorrow in fact. What will my attorney actually be doing at my arraignment that couldn't be done at pre-trial or whatever? (Besides just acting as gently caress-up insurance on my behalf?)
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 08:09
|
|
|
Super Delegate posted:State: Pennsylvania The lease appears contradictory. Is it Month to Month or until 3/1/14?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 14:14
|
|
|
Drink-Mix Man posted:Thanks, guys. Yeah, I've been sober since I got pulled over. (Well, I drank myself to sleep in self-loathing that night, but since then anyway.) I questioned whether I had a drinking problem up until then, but it seems like the verdict is in. (No pun intended.) I'll be going to counseling of my own volition tomorrow in fact. Highfiving the DA. Getting it done early. Talking about your case with his buddy.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 15:23
|
|
|
Potentially getting plea deals lined up far sooner than otherwise. Chatting with the DA to get a feel for them and see what kind of things will get that DA to offer a better plea (do they like AA? Do they like community service with the food bank?).
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 16:04
|
|
|
Landlord-Tenant Question in North Carolina: A landlord has taken a standard 1 month security deposit. During a tenant's time in the property, damage was done to laminant countertops in the kitchen. The damage is a burn mark slightly smaller than a credit card due to placing a hot pot directly from the stove to the countertop. The countertops are as old as the property, about 12 years of age. Although there was no burn damage to the countertops before tenant moved in, the countertops were beginning to show their age, and in some spots pulling away from the drywall backing. The tenant has repaired the countertop using a paint especially designed for laminant countertop repair. The paint applied well and properly sealed the countertop and is reasonably close in color, but there's still a mark on the countertop and anything more than a cursory inspection from several feet away clearly shows that there was damage and a repair was done. The landlord is requesting replacement of the entire portion of countertop, a total area that comes to about 17 square feet. The countertop section also has two "bends", making a replacement piece even more expensive. Total estimate to replace the damaged piece is around $500-600 from a local big box hardware store. The question: How much can the landlord reasonably subtract from the tenant's security deposit? Can they charge the entire amount of the repair, even though that would result in getting brand new countertops because of cosmetic damage to a small portion of the surface? The tenant is willing to compensate for the damage out of the security deposit, but is concerned about unjust enrichment in that the landlord would be receiving a windfall (and may just pocket the cash and not make the repairs, since the countertop is still perfectly usable). Assuming the landlord plays hardball and refuses to split the cost of a new countertop, is there any set of circumstances where it's worth the tenant's time to fight things out in small claims court to recover a portion of the deposit?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 16:11
|
|
|
Did tenant contact landlord after the damage and prior to the repair to discuss the repair work to be undertaken?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 16:15
|
|
|
FrozenVent posted:Did tenant contact landlord after the damage and prior to the repair to discuss the repair work to be undertaken? Assume the tenant attempted to first clean the stain/burn mark, and only applied the repair material when it became apparent that the mark was indelible. Assume the tenant did not notify the landlord until after the repair material was applied, but at no time did the tenant attempt to conceal the damage. Also assume the tenant contacted the landlord prior to termination of the lease to notify the landlord of the damage, and that no money has as of yet been withheld from the security deposit.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 16:38
|
|
|
euphronius posted:The lease appears contradictory. Is it Month to Month or until 3/1/14?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 18:13
|
|
|
With out reading the lease and knowing the full context I could not tell you. (get a lawyer.)
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 18:28
|
|
|
I plan on going down to my old landlord's office later but I just want to check here first to make sure I have all my ducks in a row. This is in North Carolina, here is the law I am referencing: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_42/Article_6.html My roommate and I moved out of an apartment back in December. We cleaned everything up pretty well, patched all the holes in the walls, vacuumed, everything we could be expected to do. Our security deposit was $800, we got a check for about $125 of it. We immediately called the landlord's office asking for an itemized list of where our deposit had been spent (NC G.S. 42-52). They said the lady who handles that isn't in the office blah blah blah she'll call us back. We waited a week and heard nothing so we went back down, asked again, didn't get any response. My roommate was handling it at this point so I don't know all the details but I do know that she went to their office numerous times, letters were sent, informal complaints were filed (with the NC Real Estate Commission I think), and she has records of everything. She pretty much did everything in her power outside of legal action to get an itemized list of repairs and she was ignored. She kind of slept on it for a while so here we are, 10 months later with no response still. I've printed out copies of the statutes, highlighted the relevant sections, and filled out a small claims complaint form and I plan to go to their office in about an hour and give them an ultimatum. If they don't write me a check on the spot should I just file the small claims complaint? If I do, would it be wise to get a lawyer or is this cut and dried to the point where it would be unnecessary?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 19:25
|
|
|
Small claims isn't a bad idea, but it's not going to be cut and dried. That said, hiring a lawyer to recover $675 isn't going to be worth it. You'll eat up that much in legal fees just to get the lawyer to review the case and attend the small claims hearing.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 19:37
|
|
|
Arcturas posted:That said, hiring a lawyer to recover $675 isn't going to be worth it. You'll eat up that much in legal fees just to get the lawyer to review the case and attend the small claims hearing. I kind of figured. I've never done this before so I wasn't sure. Also, the check they wrote us back in January was never deposited and is now void. If they do give me a list of repairs on the spot and somehow we actually caused $675 in damages do they have to write us another check or are we kind of screwed at this point?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 19:44
|
|
|
internet celebrity posted:[Moved out in December] I'm not a lawyer, but I recently won a claim against a former landlord for non-return of my security deposit in Pennsylvania, which has a similar requirement that the landlord provide an itemized list of deductions along with the remainder of the deposit within 30 days of termination of the lease. I won my full deposit plus filing fees because the landlord took longer than 30 days to notify me. The judge wouldn't allow the landlord to provide any proof of material damages because of this. The deposit section of the NC law you linked says that the landlord has up to 30 days to provided an itemized list of deductions AND the remainder of the deposit. It allows up to 60 days to return a final accounting along with the partial deposit, but the landlord must first provide an interim accounting within the first 30 days. The tenant's obligation is to provide a forwarding address to the landlord at the time the tenancy ends. quote:§ 42-55. Remedies. Did the landlord notify you what NC bank or insurance company was holding your deposit, either in interest bearing saving or bond? That's one technicality to pursue. Otherwise, though the landlord mailed a partial deposit within a month of move-out, he didn't meet his obligations of notice requirements, specifically the detailed itemization of deductions. The check alone wasn't sufficient. If you can prove that you repeatedly asked then to provide this itemization and they didn't comply, I imagine this would only help your case. If going to the rental office in person isn't fruitful, I'd start communicating by certified mail. Cite relevant law that nullifies the landlord's claim to any portion of the deposit because of their failure to meet their obligations. Indicate that you're prepared to file in small claims if they don't meet you're demands (return of deposit in full). Provide them a reasonable amount of time (I think 30 days is typical.) to mail the check made out to the names and address you specify. Google to find a boilerplate 30-Day Demand Letter. Include this Demand Letter with your claim when you file.
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 23:04
|
|
|
goku chewbacca posted:Did the landlord notify you what NC bank or insurance company was holding your deposit, either in interest bearing saving or bond? Yeah, all that was on the lease and thanks for the advice. I just got back from my old roommate's place and apparently they did give us a list of deductions, it was just completely ridiculous. They charged us for almost all the stuff we mentioned on the move in checklist, which they signed. They also charged us 575 dollars to repaint a 500 sqft apartment. Isn't paint considered normal wear and tear after 2 years? I can't seem to find a concrete answer. If I end up filing a claim do they have to provide invoices for every repair they made?
|
|
#
?
Sep 30, 2013 23:29
|
|
|
Location: Saline County, MO My landlord has been pushy as all hell about trying to get me to move into another lovely house across town, complete with some of the worst wiring anyone I know has ever seen that is allegedly grandfathered in. The other day she showed up at my current residence, waking me up from about 3 hours sleep and getting me to "sign" (it's really more of a complete scribble that does not remotely resemble writing) a new lease for this new place. Do I have any recourse or am I just going to have to get packing and hope it waits til I'm out of the house to burn down?
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 02:24
|
|
|
Why did you sign it if you don't want to do it?
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 04:10
|
|
|
Javid posted:Why did you sign it if you don't want to do it? How much much conscious thought would you have if you were woken up in the wee hours by someone who wasn't leaving til you did something. Basically the same thing except it was 11 in the morning due to graveyard shift. My grandmother lives with me and hadn't fully realized how lovely this other house is and was still advocating the move kept hollering about how great it was that it had a (not that) big garage for her to put her hoard in.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 04:44
|
|
|
dis astranagant posted:How much much conscious thought would you have if you were woken up in the wee hours by someone who wasn't leaving til you did something. Basically the same thing except it was 11 in the morning due to graveyard shift. My grandmother lives with me and hadn't fully realized how lovely this other house is and was still advocating the move kept hollering about how great it was that it had a (not that) big garage for her to put her hoard in. That being said, you could possibly make arguments that the new lease is invalid because of duress, undue influence, or fraud. Have you paid a deposit on the new place yet? Is the landlord holding your old deposit? Have you consulted with a tenants rights group or an attorney? Your legal options are going to vary greatly based upon location. You could also make an argument that the place isn't habitable; grandfathering doesn't really matter if the place is fundamentally unsafe. You may want to try calling the local housing department.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 05:24
|
|
|
This has basically all happened in the last week (the previous tenants moved out last Monday, we got to see the place for a few minutes the following day and granny got the keys and started moving some flower pots on Wednesday. Thursday or Friday the landlord dropped in unannounced and woke us both up to sign papers. It wasn't til this weekend that I got a good look at just how unsafe the wiring is (there's 2 20 amp breakers running the entire house, not counting some 220V ones for dryer/stove/a window ac) and informed the landlord that it was going to cause problems having the washing machine, refrigerator, entire upstairs and the garage all on one breaker. She just laughed it off and gave a song and dance about how it was grandfathered in, no one else had any problems with it (she's owned the place for 2 years tops, it was up for sale around then) and the retired electrician she sends around might have said it was ok (I doubt this, she's ignored his advice about my current house but it's not flagrantly out of code). I'm just trying to figure out what my options are. This whole thing has been so rushed that we're really only starting to fully process what's happening with the place. We've barely even finished moving into this place and pretty much put unpacking on hold last month when we were told about this other house on the off chance that it was actually a better place. The landlord is holding our old deposit and the new, higher rent is due this week. dis astranagant fucked around with this message at 05:49 on Oct 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 05:43
|
|
|
Wait, I'm really confused. It sounds like you just barely started a new lease, and your landlord wants to swap you to a newer lease? For clarity, I'm going to call it House A (the one you like) and House B (the one you don't like). 1) Are you moved into House A? 2) How long have you been in House A? 3) Are you moved into House B? 4) How long have you been in House B? That said, if you signed the lease for House B, and agreed to move out of House A (even if you did it when very tired) you are probably not going to be able to move back into House A. You can probably get out of your lease for House B, or at a minimum terminate it at a month and get your deposits back, but that means you'll need to find a new place to live. EDIT: Yeah, it really does depend where you live. If it's someplace like California and the house doesn't meet code, you might be able to call a local zoning/housing board and get them to lean on the landlord. If it's someplace like Utah that hates tenants and loves landlords you're probably screwed.
|
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 16:58
|
|
|
Been in house A since the first of June and am all moved in since mid July (grandma's hoard takes quite a bit to move). Found out about House B's availability (pending an eviction) around the first of August. Been in House B since Thursday or Friday and have a couple car loads there.
dis astranagant fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Oct 1, 2013 |
|
#
?
Oct 1, 2013 20:31
|
|
|
State: Georgia I refinanced my house in June 2012 and despite getting a really low appraisal and an LTV above 80%, the loan terms that they offered and that I signed specifically state that I don't have PMI and that monthly amount owed for PMI cannot rise. I have the copy I received from their lawyer when I closed on the refinancing that shows this. Well I have direct deposit payments with my lender and that didn't stop them from deducting several thousand dollars in "back owed PMI" yesterday. They're stonewalling me over the phone saying their records show that I've always owed PMI and it was a clerical error that it was not being billed and since the money was already taken I cant' fight this by just refusing to pay the bill. They can't retroactively change the terms of a loan and cite a "clerical error" can they? Can they apply PMI even if the loan terms that I signed did not have PMI?
|
|
#
?
Oct 2, 2013 17:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 02:03 |
|
|
No, they shouldn't be able to do that. Terminate your direct deposit payments and hand-write the check in the future (so they can't keep charging you back-owed PMI), and you can probably sue them for improperly charging you the PMI. (That said, I know very little about mortgages, so you should trust somebody else over me. Also, talk to a local lawyer because real estate law varies dramatically by jurisdiction. If it's a few thousand dollars, it may be worth spending $200-500 to retain a lawyer and get them to write a quick threatening letter. Otherwise you could try small claims court)
|
|
#
?
Oct 2, 2013 17:41
|
|