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Happy Thread posted:I'm trying to tell a friend what their rights (edit: powers) are as a renter---hopefully without loving them up. Can you help check my work? Happy Thread posted:No. She had not quit tenancy yet; she was out of state but still was a rent-paying legal occupant of the property, with just as many rights to entry as the roommate. The roommate did not have any rights to deny her entry to her own apartment. As far as I know there's also no rule about not sending proxies in her place to enter if she can't be there. In fact, the roommate had already done this same practice before; one day a random person entered my friend's apartment with the key, which the roommate had given them to dog sit or something without even telling my friend they would enter. And it's weird that your friend has enough money to pay for five months of rent somewhere she's not living, get a storage unit, and abandon a bunch of her stuff, but not enough to pay a lawyer. Ham Equity fucked around with this message at 06:28 on Feb 4, 2021 |
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Feb 4, 2021 06:25
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It wasn't some leisurely unannounced trip, she was going home to take care of her dad who came down with severe dementia. Due to COVID closing in she wasn't sure if she would be stuck there forever or not. Turns out yes. So she had brought everything small that she couldn't live without and had to part ways with the rest, even all her stuff of sentimental value. These two roommates were part of our larger friends group for years, so no they were not just business before this. When someone is forced to make a tragic and uncertain move during an emergency, and they're you're friend, you take care of them. You don't take the opportunity to extort them for bogus charges and $150 per hour phone calls. Maybe you do, but I don't. My friend absolutely is not a pain in the rear end, never was, and was a total pushover of a roommate who got bullied into doing all the chores. She didn't deserve this.
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Feb 4, 2021 06:56
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honda whisperer posted:I'm still lurking for the spoon manifesto. He left so abruptly without any warning I couldn’t believe it just ended like that. I need to redact the letter since I don’t want to doxx myself and I keep putting it off but I’ve been meaning to post it.
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Feb 4, 2021 08:43
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EwokEntourage posted:I am a lawyer and Gleghorn is hilarious. Another great one is where the cops pick a drunk guy up off his porch, drag him into the road, and then charge him with Public intoxication and the court is just like “wtf are y’all doing” I swear there's a case in CA where the cops ordered (or even took) a guy out of his house and then charged him with public intox.
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Feb 4, 2021 09:34
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pseudanonymous posted:He left so abruptly without any warning I couldn’t believe it just ended like that. I need to redact the letter since I don’t want to doxx myself and I keep putting it off but I’ve been meaning to post it. post the motherfucking manifesto
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Feb 4, 2021 11:47
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Happy Thread posted:It wasn't some leisurely unannounced trip, she was going home to take care of her dad who came down with severe dementia. Due to COVID closing in she wasn't sure if she would be stuck there forever or not. Turns out yes. So she had brought everything small that she couldn't live without and had to part ways with the rest, even all her stuff of sentimental value. Those all sound like personal problems. Do you think a judge or lawyer is going to take any of those into consideration in a legal dispute? The situation is either a valid legal dispute or it isn't. That's why you pay a lawyer to tell you what to do next.
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Feb 4, 2021 12:11
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Uhhh did you see the post I was responding to? They do not sound like they are a judge about to make a legal ruling
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Feb 4, 2021 12:17
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pseudanonymous posted:He left so abruptly without any warning I couldn’t believe it just ended like that. I need to redact the letter since I don’t want to doxx myself and I keep putting it off but I’ve been meaning to post it. 5 minutes in paint, you've got this.
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Feb 4, 2021 12:39
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Happy Thread posted:Uhhh did you see the post I was responding to? They do not sound like they are a judge about to make a legal ruling
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Feb 4, 2021 13:37
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On the one hand, I feel bad for having completely misunderstood the situation; on the other hand, the resultant spiral has been pretty entertaining, so I think it's a wash.
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Feb 4, 2021 16:01
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Its amazing how relevant the OP stays after years and years.
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Feb 4, 2021 17:33
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pentyne posted:Those all sound like personal problems. Do you think a judge or lawyer is going to take any of those into consideration in a legal dispute? small claims court, where is would end up, would absolutely take all of that into consideration
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Feb 4, 2021 19:40
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Dik Hz posted:There are lots of places to post for moral validation, but I don't think this thread is one of them. In fact, some might argue that it's the opposite. Why didn't you say that to the person I was responding to, who was the first to make a post purely about moral judgement
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Feb 4, 2021 22:23
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Happy Thread posted:That stuff is nothing I didn't already know and cover.... my questions above still stand. I'm even more confused now. These are the general legal principles. What's the legal question(s) you have, then? Can she move out and stiff the landlord? Yes, addressed in my post (there's a risk to her credit and to being a defendant). Can she ask the landlord to go after the roommate? Yes, addressed in my post, but the landlord can tell her to gently caress off. ' Or were you asking about the likelihood that the landlord goes after her in small claims court if she stiffs the landlord? Nobody knows that but the landlord. Landlords regularly go after tenants in small claims court, but they also regularly just turn the debt over to a debt collector and/or screw her credit. This was also addressed in my post. (as an aside, you're in for even more fun when it comes to the security deposit if the landlord decides to return it to the roommate out of spite or otherwise)
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Feb 4, 2021 22:29
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Yeah, the info that collections agencies could be used even without using the courts was new to me. That changed our calculation a lot towards just writing the roommate one more giant check to be rid of the situation. That helped, if I didn't say so earlier.
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Feb 4, 2021 22:54
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Having been on both sides of the 'person needs to move out quickly, rent needs to be paid, new housemate needs to be found', I think op's friend didn't do it right. The issue isn't that they needed to move out, the issue is they agreed to split rent 50/50. Why should the remaining housemate be forced to may more than they agreed on? Was no attempt made to find a replacement housemate?
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Feb 4, 2021 23:12
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Honestly without reading the lease and knowing local ordinances / local judges know one knows (I’m not reading the lease )
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Feb 4, 2021 23:18
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euphronius posted:(I’m not reading the lease ) It's okay, it looks like nobody else bothered to either
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Feb 4, 2021 23:36
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SPOON MAN
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Feb 4, 2021 23:37
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Outrail posted:Having been on both sides of the 'person needs to move out quickly, rent needs to be paid, new housemate needs to be found', I think op's friend didn't do it right.
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Feb 5, 2021 03:09
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Thanatosian posted:The issue is that the person didn't move out, they just left. I think everyone understands that “dad has dementia” is an emergency for the friend, but sometimes emergencies cost money. Dad’s dementia isn’t an emergency for the roommate or the landlord, so neither is going to be inclined to spend their money on it.
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Feb 5, 2021 03:19
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In general if you have a friend who is in a legal bind the local legal aid societies are a good first stop. Especially in places like Los Angeles, there's plenty of orgs there. Also yeah, this is why we don't do much besides that: ulmont posted:It could be possible but actual lawyers can’t talk about them for a number of ethical / professional restrictions. To name two basic ones that almost always apply here:
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Feb 5, 2021 20:23
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AlbieQuirky posted:I think everyone understands that “dad has dementia” is an emergency for the friend, but sometimes emergencies cost money. Dad’s dementia isn’t an emergency for the roommate or the landlord, so neither is going to be inclined to spend their money on it. Yeah, I mean if the roommate was a decent person I might eat the increased rent for a month or so, but expecting someone to double their rent and utility payments after you've had 5 months to figure something out is a bit much. On the other hand I've had rear end in a top hat roommates who were dead set on refusing to be even a little bit flexible when things out of anyone's control happen. I'm guessing this is a truth is in the middle situation where housemate is a bit of a dick but also just fed up with the situation.
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Feb 5, 2021 20:36
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I'm not connected to this in any way, so this is truly hypothetical (though obviously based on the situation). Does the fact that their lease is month to month change anything? Obviously you can't just get out of a year long lease by telling your roommate you're not going to live there anymore, but how would it work if one roommate wanted out of a month to month but the other didn't? I assume they'd have to break the lease (by giving the landlord 30 days or whatever the terms are), then the other roommate would have to sign a new lease (assuming they could qualify by themselves)?
Grumpwagon fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Feb 5, 2021 |
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Feb 5, 2021 21:04
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Grumpwagon posted:I'm not connected to this in any way, so this is truly hypothetical (though obviously based on the situation). Does the fact that their lease is month to month change anything? Obviously you can't just get out of a year long lease by telling your roommate you're not going to live there anymore, but how would it work if one roommate wanted out of a month to month but the other didn't? I assume they'd have to break the lease (by giving the landlord 30 days or whatever the terms are), then the other roommate would have to sign a new lease (assuming they could qualify by themselves)? That’s why I said we need to read the lease (I’m not reading the lease)
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Feb 5, 2021 22:51
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So this is sort of a meta advice question, about whether I've given the right advice and if there is anything else that I should recommend. A former student of mine is an immigrant. She came to the US through marriage to an American citizen. After graduation, she moved to California where she lived with her husband for a number of years. One day, her husband suddenly left her. Attempts to reach out to him via phone call or email have gone unanswered, and she does not have his current address, and suspects he may be abroad. After a rough couple of years, she started dating again, when she met her current boyfriend, who she lives with. Her boyfriend received a job offer in Canada, and for her to move with him she would likely have to get married to him (especially since she never became a citizen and is still on a green card, meaning that leaving the US for an extended period would likely jeopardize her green card). Except that she never divorced her first husband. My understanding is that that stemmed from both the fact that she couldn't afford a lawyer, and a fear that she had that, had she filed a divorce for abandonment or desertion, that the state would first try to force her husband to return. I told her that I doubted the state of California would be in the business of forcing couples back together, and as far as affording a lawyer, I told her to contact the Bar Association for California looking for low cost or pro bono legal services. So the question is, are there any other either CA specific or situation specific organizations or services I could point her to that could help her in this situation? I am not a lawyer or anywhere near California, but for understandable reasons she has been very afraid to seek help in any official capacity (and, from the sound of it, is also afraid of involving her current boyfriend too much), so I thought I could help at least point her in the best direction to seek help.
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Feb 9, 2021 23:23
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Is this one of you? https://twitter.com/MikaelThalen/status/1359209202292428800
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Feb 10, 2021 00:16
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joepinetree posted:So this is sort of a meta advice question, about whether I've given the right advice and if there is anything else that I should recommend. Woof. Tell her to reach out to her local county bar association and legal aid society as well. If they can't directly assist they can point her in the right direction. The local county superior court should have a website with a listing of resources as well. If not, their self help office will know who to refer her to. CA is a no fault divorce state and you are correct the court won't force them to be together. There are procedural steps she will need to clear in the divorce though.
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Feb 10, 2021 00:29
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joepinetree posted:So this is sort of a meta advice question, about whether I've given the right advice and if there is anything else that I should recommend. As you've described this, it is a very, very simple divorce filing with one big exception: serving the papers on the husband (giving him a copy of the divorce filing so he could contest it, knows that he's getting divorced, etc). A lot of legal aid organizations do uncontested divorces because they're basically just a lot of paperwork, and the worst that happens if you screw up is you have to do it again - I know that early in my career I did some of these, as did other litigators, for pro bono work because it gets you used to preparing and filing papers, but with no real risk if you gently caress something up (you know, except for your firm finding out you can't be trusted not to gently caress something up in a filing). Even if she can't get a pro bono lawyer she can probably get a divorce lawyer who would handle it pretty cheaply (unless the husband suddenly returned and contested it) because again: it's just a lot of boilerplate paperwork. However they deal with service in a situation like this would probably be a headache to figure out from scratch but I'm sure that either the pro bono organization or the divorce lawyer would have dealt with it at some point or could figure it out relatively cheaply. Divorce court isn't about trying to force together long-dead marriages but hey, I've never been in front of a California judge and maybe there's a complete kook out there, but that strikes me as just not a real thing to be concerned about. They don't actually have the authority to do that.
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Feb 10, 2021 02:46
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Can you serve notice through a newspaper advertisement Followup: What if you have actual knowledge that the other party is illiterate
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Feb 10, 2021 02:59
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CA does have a mandatory six-month waiting period after filing before you can complete the divorce (state legislatures like to pretend it makes it more likely that couples stay married) so yeah, if time is an issue for her relocation plans it's something to get moving on
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Feb 10, 2021 03:03
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Devor posted:Can you serve notice through a newspaper advertisement you can i imagine that it's still fine if the other party is illiterate because everyone knows this isn't going to work even if they're literate
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Feb 10, 2021 03:05
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Grumpwagon posted:I'm not connected to this in any way, so this is truly hypothetical (though obviously based on the situation). Does the fact that their lease is month to month change anything? Obviously you can't just get out of a year long lease by telling your roommate you're not going to live there anymore, but how would it work if one roommate wanted out of a month to month but the other didn't? I assume they'd have to break the lease (by giving the landlord 30 days or whatever the terms are), then the other roommate would have to sign a new lease (assuming they could qualify by themselves)? No idea what it's like in shithole countries, but in BC its like you said. You'd need to terminate the agreement (either of the leasees can terminate, since they're both on the agreement). Then the tennent who wants to stay would renegotiate a new lease without the person who leaves. This is usually pretty easy because finding new tenants and dealing with this poo poo is a pain in the rear end, and most landlords are happy for this to happen. For a month to month of this sort would mean you need to give a month's notice from the end of the current rent cycle (so in effect 1-2 months notice). Assume everything I said has 'generally speaking' and 'I think' next to it. Again, this is for BC where people are treated like human beings and the law is very renter friendly.
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Feb 10, 2021 03:21
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Devor posted:Can you serve notice through a newspaper advertisement In Texas you can serve thru social media now too. Illiterate people are not immune from service, as presumably someone could read it to them. Service by publication is a pain in the rear end and expensive, so it’s not frequently abused. If you his that they were illiterate and somehow used it to abuse process you could be sanctioned and/or sued Outrail posted:No idea what it's like in shithole countries, but in BC its like you said. You'd need to terminate the agreement (either of the leasees can terminate, since they're both on the agreement). Then the tennent who wants to stay would renegotiate a new lease without the person who leaves. This is usually pretty easy because finding new tenants and dealing with this poo poo is a pain in the rear end, and most landlords are happy for this to happen. For a month to month of this sort would mean you need to give a month's notice from the end of the current rent cycle (so in effect 1-2 months notice). In most countries (that this could apply to) you cannot legally be forced into a contract you don’t agree to, and since America has the same root basis for contract law as Canada, any roommate could provide notice and move out as they no longer agree to the contract and are terminating it First person to smugly post “guess you’ve never heard of contracts of adhesion” can just preemptively call themselves an idiot, thanks y’all EwokEntourage fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Feb 10, 2021 |
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Feb 10, 2021 04:49
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Thanks for the responses. I will suggest that she reach out to her county bar association as well.
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Feb 10, 2021 06:55
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EwokEntourage posted:In Texas you can serve thru social media now too. Illiterate people are not immune from service, as presumably someone could read it to them. Service by publication is a pain in the rear end and expensive, so it’s not frequently abused. If you his that they were illiterate and somehow used it to abuse process you could be sanctioned and/or sued I love/hate boilerplates as a person who makes and enforces them. We do have a concept of obligated transactions wherein a pharmacy for instance is obligated to hand over prescription medication even if you can't afford it then and there, and bill you later (aka can't refuse a transaction). It's the only instance I can think of with something like a forced participation type deal off the top of my head. Also, ever hear of a thing called contracts of adhesive  they are binding
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Feb 10, 2021 07:54
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I have a legal question, I quickly scanned the last few pages and didn't see anything relevant so here goes. I am a retail store manager, I want to say approximately 3 years ago I had an elderly customer slip and fall in a store I was managing. Being the manager on duty at the time I am the one that filled out the accident report. Standard procedure , nothing really ever comes of it beyond that except occasionally the reports will get faxed to lawyers if the person involves pursues legal avenues. I have long since left said company and moved on with my career, but last fall I was contacted by their lawyers requesting a deposition as the woman that fell was trying to sue my prior employer. I politely declined, I said it had been years, I didn't remember anything, I no longer worked for that company and had a new job I needed to focus on. I was told it didn't matter, that they would send me a copy of what I wrote in the accident report so that I could review it and if I chose not to be dispositioned they would serve me with a subpoena to do so. I did not leave that company on good terms and didn't appreciate being forced to defend them so I said I would not comply, two days later a knock at my door and I was served the subpoena. Google told me I was now legally obligated to attend, so I did, because of the pandemic the deposition was done remote via zoom. It was long, the lawyer representing my previous employer was surprisingly rude despite the fact I was supposed to be defending them, but after a few horrifically boring hours of lawyers not being able to figure out how to use zoom it was done and that was that, I washed my hands of it. Today (approximately six months later) I received a letter in the mail from the lawyers alerting me to the fact that the case was going to trial and that they would very much like me to testify on their behalf. Obviously, I hate these people at this point, and do not wish to take part in this. I can only assume if I ignore this cordial invitation I will once again be served with a formal subpoena. Do I have any legal recourse to appeal this? I do not work for these people, I do not want anything to do with their court case, I do not remember anything about this court case except for what I have reread from my statement that I wrote at the time of the accident, that they already have. Is it possible to plead to the judge or the court or whatever that any possible testimony I could give would just be me reinterpreting what I wrote several years ago and thus my presence is not only not necessary but a huge inconvenience for me trying to make a living working with my current employer ? or am I more or less at the mercy of some old woman trying to get a pay check and my ex employer refusing to settle out of court on it?
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Feb 10, 2021 18:47
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There are a few things that matter here: 1. is this a state or federal case? 2. Which state is the suit in? Generally speaking, you're probably going to be compelled to testify, but depending on the answers to the above questions, they may be obligated to at least compensate you for your time.
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Feb 10, 2021 18:52
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have fun at trial! that said it’s easier to subpoena for a deposition than to appear at trial, though I believe at least one court has held that in the era of remote trials that’s no longer the case (you generally can’t be forced to travel more than 100 miles in federal court, but if you’re at home on zoom you’re not really traveling, are you?) you are being subpoenaed as a witness, not an advocate. they want you to appear because otherwise they can’t use your accident report, as it’s hearsay if you really want to fight it you’ll need your own lawyer
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Feb 10, 2021 18:53
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New Jersey, and Im assuming state? I mean, woman tripped over an entrance mat and is sueing a private company for damages, I dont think that qualifies for federal court but obviously since Im here asking for legal advice I wouldnt know.
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Feb 10, 2021 19:00
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