r/legaladvice • • Mar 15 '25

Mod Post Read before commenting: Off-topic and anecdotal comments are not allowed and subject you to a permanent ban

171 Upvotes

Greetings from the mods!

We've had a flood of off-topic comments recently. We're posting this to remind everyone that off-topic and anecdotal comments are not allowed. An off-topic comment may subject you to a permanent ban.

The Rule:

Commenting Rule 1: Comments should contain a legal answer or a strongly related non-legal answer. If it is not legal advice, do not post. Period. You will be banned.

What is "off-topic?"

Any response that doesn't answer the question by reference to legal information or principles. A joke, a wisecrack, a comment about OP's formatting (use the report button instead) are all off-topic. Off-topic also includes expressions of sympathy, opinions on the law, and comments that berate the OP or anyone else.

Incidentally, simply adding "get a lawyer" to an off-topic comment does not make it on-topic. And "get a lawyer" on its own, without further information or help, is considered unhelpful and may be removed on that basis.

If you want to discuss a post, then wait until it hits /r/bestoflegaladvice or ask a question about the subject of the post in /r/legaladviceofftopic. The main subreddit and a comment thread are never a place to have a philosophical discussion about the law or the post. It is a place to answer the questions asked.

What is an "anecdote?"

For our purposes, anecdotes are stories about something that happened to you (or someone you know or heard about) who may have had something that might be similar that happen to them.

These comments are not helpful. They do not include current legal information that is relevant to the OP, and therefore, they are off-topic. If you know the answer to the question (based on current law and relevant jurisdiction) then just answer the question without the story.

Another type of anecdote is "I don't know the law in the jurisdiction you actually asked about, but in some other state, the law is..." That is just not helpful. Laws are different in different places. These types of answers are off-topic.

Referring an OP to a thread on a different subreddit, or to somewhere else on the Internet because it might include a similar situation, is anecdotal advice and not allowed.

These are not the only types of anecdotes, but they are probably the most common ones. Again, if you are not referencing legal information or principles, your comment is probably not allowed.

Violations subject the user to an immediate and permanent ban

Not that we need to justify enforcing our rules, but this is a busy subreddit and the mods have a lot to do. If a user shows up here, doesn't read the rules, and posts a single off-topic comment, the user may be immediately and permanently banned.

This policy is not intended to be punitive, although we know it may seem to be. There are a lot of you and not many of us, and banning users that do not follow the rules, even once, is in the best interests of the subreddit. Violating the rules almost always means the user didn't bother to read them, and we simply don't have time to deal with such users.

Tl;dr: Unless you have a legal answer, do not reply to any post in this subreddit. You may be permanently banned, even for a first offense.


r/legaladvice • • Apr 08 '26

Subreddit Rules

70 Upvotes

We've learned that some people just flat out can't see our subreddit rules, so I'm posting them here in a pinned post so we can link them when necessary and so they're super easy to find.

Rules for r/legaladvice Rules that visitors must follow to participate. May be used as reasons to report or ban.

1. All responses must offer an answer to the legal question posed by the OP. We enforce this with bans.

Anecdotes are not permitted. Neither is advice that encourages someone to break the law. Nor is "get a lawyer" a sufficient response.

There's a pinned post at the top of the subreddit specifically addressing this rule. We will absolutely ban you for commenting without answering the legal question

2. Personally Identifying Information

Posts or submissions that ask for or contain information that could be used to identify either party are subject to immediate removal.

3. Advertising or Recommending a Lawyer or Business

We do not allow referrals to particular lawyers, law firms, or other businesses.

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All discussions must stay on the subreddit for everyone's protection.

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You must include your location in the following format: location: yourlocationhere . It must be that exact format, and it must be in the body of your post.

6. Read our full list of rules

Read our full list of rules here: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/wiki/index#wiki_general_rules

7. This subreddit is for simple legal questions.

This subreddit is for simple legal questions. We can't help with preparing a defense, legal research, etc. We cannot review contracts, plan your defense, or give you specific advice on exactly how to present your case with the court. You need a local attorney for that. Additionally, we do not accept medical malpractice questions.

8. NO LLMS

No LLMs. No ChatGPT. Don't recommend it, don't use it to answer questions, and don't use it to compose your modmail when you get banned for using it. Using it to compose questions is generally ok.

We will permanently and irrevocably ban you for this.

9. Mods can remove things we deem inappropriate or disruptive

Any post and any comment can be removed by the mods at any time if the mods decide the post/comment is or has the potential to be disruptive or is otherwise inappropriate.

10. Posts must be about a real scenario that you or someone you know is facing.

To expand on this, we additionally do not allow anyone but the immediately involved parties to ask custody related questions. Not friends, not significant others, not grandparents. Reddit is free.

11. Post must contain a legal question

A legal question is one that can be answered with the law, be it a law or ordinance, or caselaw.

12. US and Canada only

Laws are different everywhere. We can only help with legal problems in the US or Canada because we have no regular, reliable commenters from other countries. For other countries, please search for an appropriate subreddit.


r/legaladvice • • 6h ago

Wills Trusts and Estates My mom’s husband dies before their divorce is finalized

240 Upvotes

Today I found out my mom’s husband passed away. She sent him divorce papers about three years ago, but he refused to sign them. We couldn’t properly resolve things, and we were genuinely afraid of contacting people he knew because he was a terrible person and we feared he might find out where we lived and hurt us. Now I’ve found out he got engaged to someone else this year, and his new partner had his baby a few months ago.

My questions are: If he never signed the divorce papers, were they still legally married? What happens to his will and assets? Could my mom inherit anything, even if he changed his will to leave everything to his new partner or baby?

They were married for 9-10 years. As far as I know, he didn’t own a house and was pretty broke, the only asset I remember was a car. I also don’t know if he had a will.

I heard North Carolina has a surviving spouse allowance. Could my mom qualify for that even if he left little or nothing behind? I’d appreciate any advice about what my mom should do next. Thank you.

Location: North Carolina

EDIT: I just got into an argument in the comments with someone about it. We had to quit our jobs and move to a completely different city with nothing just to escape him, so he got to keep everything. We let him live his life and didn’t tell anyone in his close circle why we disappeared, including his new fiancée, out of fear. (I don’t think she even knows he’s been married this whole time.) My mom was paying 75% of everything in their relationship. I couldn’t care less about his awful car. I just want to know if everything he’s bought since we moved away would be considered hers. If so we’ll let his family keep everything like his bum car.

Yes as awful as this sounds, I was curious to know if she gets any money. Also yes, I know it’s awful that we didn’t warn his new fiancée about what a terrible person he is, and I don’t know if we plan on telling her.


r/legaladvice • • 16h ago

My boss is withholding my entire paycheck because I refused to pay his company van insurance deductible

1.4k Upvotes

I work as a commercial installation technician in Pennsylvania. Last Tuesday, I was driving the company work van on the turnpike between job sites. A semi-truck in front of me kicked up a piece of shredded tire tread that smashed our passenger headlight and dented the front quarter panel. I pulled over, took photos, and called my supervisor immediately.

On Friday afternoon, the business owner called me into his office and handed me a printed form. He told me the commercial insurance deductible is fifteen hundred dollars. The form stated that I agreed to a three-hundred-dollar paycheck deduction for the next five pay periods to cover it.

I told him respectfully that this was an unavoidable road hazard while on the clock and that I was not signing away my wages for company fleet insurance. He got red in the face, snatched the paper back, and told me I was suspended. Then he said: "You dont get your direct deposit until this damage is resolved."

My paycheck of twenty-four hundred dollars was supposed to hit my bank account this morning and there is literally ZERO money there. I have rent due in three days. Can an employer legally hold earned wages hostage over commercial property damage in Pennsylvania? What is my fastest recourse before I get hit with eviction notices? Why is this even a thing?

Location: Pennsylvania.


r/legaladvice • • 12h ago

My mom took out an extra 60k in private student loans without my knowledge (NM)

370 Upvotes

- My mother took out an additional 60k in private student loans without me or my father (cosigner) knowing. She then hid this information by not disclosing the loan servicer, passwords to access the loans, and hid all the mail notices for the loans for years. It was taken out in 3 loans of about 20k each. They were each dispersed into her own checking account and eventually moved into her savings. My father who was the cosigner on the loans did not have any knowledge of this at the time but believes she used some of the loan money to pay off their credit card debt.

Do I honestly have any recourse or way to challenge these loans? Am I just on the hook for the 60k in debt?

Location: New Mexico


r/legaladvice • • 20h ago

My boss is using our tip pool to cover customers' credit card chargebacks. He says it's not a wage deduction because our hourly pay stays the same.

1.8k Upvotes

location: California

I work at a small independent coffee shop. There are usually four or five of us on a shift, and we split the tips at the end of each week. Cash tips and credit card tips all go into the same pool.

Last week our tip payout was noticeably lower than usual. One of my coworkers asked about it and the manager showed us the spreadsheet.

There was a line that said "customer chargebacks" with $86 deducted.

Apparently two customers disputed their card transactions and the shop lost the money. Neither transaction involved a disputed tip, as far as we know. The $86 was just the total of the purchases.

When we asked why that was coming out of our tips, the manager said that when a customer doesn't pay, the loss has to come from somewhere. He also said it was completely legal because he wasn't touching our actual wages. Everyone still got their regular hourly pay.

I asked if that meant we'd be paying for customers who walked out without paying, too. He said it was basically the same thing and that this was going to be the policy from now on.

We now have the policy in writing because he sent a message to the staff group chat saying chargebacks will be deducted from the weekly tip pool before distribution.

I'm confused because I thought tips belonged to employees, even if the business has a bad week. And it's not like we can prevent someone from disputing a charge two weeks after buying their coffee.

Can the shop legally use tips from other customers to cover its credit card losses? If not, is this something we can file a wage claim over, even though our paychecks show the correct hourly wages?


r/legaladvice • • 4h ago

Labor Law (Unions) Terminated for leaving job site and going to the hospital

89 Upvotes

Location: Omaha/ohio. Like stated above I was let go for not letting a supervisor know I was leaving a job site and going to the hospital. I’m in commercial roofing and we had a safety brief in the morning about how the roof will be icy and super slick because it is a pvc material. Well the owners son who is 19 was a Forman on this job. Less than 30 minutes after the safety brief he decides to shove me on the roof out of no where. This caused me to fall and injure my back to the point I have been un able to tie my shoes because the pain in my back. This was a week ago, I was let go two days after the incident. I did let my supervisor know I was at the hospital via text as well as hr. Another Forman on the roof heard me say I was going home as long as 5 others who witnessed the event. I was with this company for two years and am just lost for words. I pressed charges I don’t know what has came of that but I was working on a job in Ohio but hired through Nebraska. I just want to know what the best next steps would be. Do I make report to osha ? This is a high profile job site we were working on for the department of energy. Any guidance or help would be appreciated as I am out of a job and can’t work right now. This was a non union company


r/legaladvice • • 9h ago

Insurance Painters got overspray on my car while painting neighbor's house

161 Upvotes

Location: Texas

On Sep 3rd, I noticed overspray all over the side of my car that was facing my neighbors house while it was being painted. I got the information of the business and contacted the owner. He apologized and sounded genuine. He told me he would take care of it and take responsibility. He said he'd give me more info and he would have a detailer come out to remove the overspray. This was over the phone. I did send pictures after the call to show the damage.

But then I didn't hear back until he responded to a follow up I sent on Sep 10th. He replied that he didn't forget about it and he was still working on it.

Since then I had to go to VA for work for a few weeks and just got back a few days ago. I then sent a message on Oct 25th again following up and asking to see if there was any progress. As of today, I have not heard back I was going to send another message soon but I dont really know where to go from here and I don't want to have to go through my insurance as I'd be out of pocket my deductible and I'd be worried about my rate increasing.

It's unfortunate timing as I was planning on trading in or selling my car to get a new car in the near future.

Any help would be appreciated.


r/legaladvice • • 18h ago

Landlord Tenant Housing Landlord is selling the house, and a key lockbox is on the door. Today an unknown third party entered the house with no prior notice while I'm at work using that key.

252 Upvotes

Location: Ohio, USA

This isn't me but my friend who doesn't Reddit. The house she is currently renting is being sold, and someone, presumably the realtor, put the standard key lockbox on the door for showings.

This realtor has brought people inside with no prior notice while my friend has been home, and today an unknown third party entered the house using the lockbox key without prior notice while she was at work; she has cameras that alert to movement which is how she knows it happens and has the footage. She contacted her landlord who told her to save everything, she also contacted the realtor and got no response.

She at a bare minimum wants to report the realtor to the organization he belongs to, however I was wondering if she has any reason to sit down with a lawyer and go over everything that has happened before she does this?


r/legaladvice • • 30m ago

Custody Divorce and Family NJ | I may be the higher earner yet after taxes I’m left with nothing

• Upvotes

My ex is taking me to child support court in LOCATION: New Jersey. I make slightly more than him — maybe $4k–$7k more per year — but he also receives bonuses from his job and earns additional money trading stocks.

I pay for our child’s health insurance. Because we have 50/50 custody week‑on/week‑off, I’m not allowed to leave the state, which forced me to get a car. I also pay extended childcare so I can work and attend school. My job pays a childcare benefit that goes directly to his mother.

I maintain a two‑bedroom apartment and cover utilities, food, clothing, transportation, and all other daily expenses.

My ex lives upstairs in his father’s home as a tenant, with his father living downstairs.

Given that I’m paying significantly more of the actual costs to support our child, even with 50/50 custody, how does New Jersey typically handle child support in situations where one parent has higher expenses but the other parent has additional income from bonuses and investments?


r/legaladvice • • 11h ago

is this okay?

32 Upvotes

is it normal for my dad to touch my butt?

i’m a minor, i hit puberty a few years ago and ever since he’s grabbed my butt, smacked it, and even made comments on how big it is comparing it to my moms.

this touching and these comments have always been unwanted and have always made me uncomfortable, i’ve expressed i didn’t like it. i told my mom and she told him to stop, that was 2 years ago and he did stop— but only for about a week. this is a regular thing.

he’s made comments on how big my butt is even when my friends are over and my friend said how she thought it was weird.

i screamed “ stop” at him today and he thinks its because he smacked it too hard. not because he sexually assaulted me.

is this sexual assault?
is this normal?
is my dad a pedophile?
is there anything i can do?
should i take legal action?

Location: texas


r/legaladvice • • 15h ago

Landlord is letting a stranger stay in the other room for a month

64 Upvotes

So my landlord sent me a text this morning at 11am saying that "Marcos", the guy that did our flooring in the past, will be showing up today around 5/6pm and will be staying for a month because he has a job near by. I want to know if this is legal. I am renting the space with another girl and we are both in our 20s. Mind you, we pay for rent and power, so this is going to cost us two girls even more since we are having another person added into this months power expenses. This man, that we both don't know, is 40+ years old and doesn't speak any English so we aren't even able to communicate with him. I am not okay with or feel safe with having a stranger that is twice our age living with us for free with out any prior notice other than the text this morning. What can I do if anything?

Location: Colorado


r/legaladvice • • 13h ago

Valvoline broke my new car

38 Upvotes

Location: Missouri (Saint Louis County)

I went to get an oil change at a valvoline I don’t usually go to because I was in the area at the time. The people in the shop didn’t seem to be paying much attention to anything, a lot of talking to eachother about their lives, throwing stuff at each other, no communication with me or other customers, except for payment. When I hopped on the highway, my check engine light came on flashing, and the car wouldn’t pick up speed/lagged, so I pulled over to the side.
I didn’t get home until 1AM that night, and missed work the next day.
I took it to the Mazda dealership/service department, and they told me Valvoline put way too much oil in my car. So far, I need a new catalytic converter, and they have given me a starting repair quote ~$8,100.
The mechanic said that’s where they need to start, and then they need to make sure there isn’t oil elsewhere/further problems. I, or Valvoline, needs to pay the repair estimate first, and there may be something else that was affected.
I just bought this car on my own last year, and I was excited to have a nice reliable vehicle, and planned to have it for another ten years at least.
I made a claim with Valvoline, but I’m unsure how this will go and if they will pay everything in full. I’m doing this all on my own, and a bit concerned I’ll get screwed somewhere in the process.
My brother said to consider hiring a lawyer, but I wouldn’t even know where to start, and very likely it would be out of my budget.

I’m not sure what to do or ask for at this point.


r/legaladvice • • 23h ago

[CA] Dealership demanding car back 3 weeks after purchase and says they already sold my trade-in?

243 Upvotes

Location: California, USA. Please bear with me, I’m shaking because I feel totally sick to my stomach. Three weeks ago, I bought a used Civic from a franchise dealership. I signed a mountain of paperwork, put down $2,000 cash, and traded in my paid-off Mazda (they gave me $4,500 trade credit). The finance guy shook my hand, handed me copies of teh signed retail installment contract, and I drove off with temporary tags.

Yesterday, the dealership called me aggressively. The manager claimed the lender "refused to fund the contract" and demanded I come in within 48 hours to sign a new deal with a higher APR or return the car, threatening to "report the vehicle stolen." When I told him I’d just take my old Mazda back and cancel the deal, he scoffed and said they already wholesaled my trade-in last week.

how is this even legal? Can they actually report a car I hold a signed purchase contract for as stolen? If they disposed of my trade-in before the financing was actually finalized, what are my legal rights here? I can't afford a lawyer and I'm terrified of waking up to cops at my door.


r/legaladvice • • 23h ago

Contracts New Employer wants copy of old NDA. Old NDA prohibits me from sharing "legal documents." Can I still provide it?

223 Upvotes

Old work location: Santa Barbara, CA

It's as the title says. As part of my continued employment, I'm required to show a copy of the old NDA to my current company. I reached out and received it, and it specifies that I cannot share any trade secrets or sensitive information, yadda, yadda.

I almost forwarded it, but there's a line that says that I cannot share "legal documents". Would the NDA not fall under that? In that case, am I not in a catch-22? I would really hate to not be able to continue my job if I'm unable to send it, especially after relocating.


r/legaladvice • • 7h ago

A hotel lost my luggage. Are they required to reimburse me for essential items I had to buy until it was returned?

12 Upvotes

I would like to start by saying I am a British citizen and am not at all familiar with USA law.

Location: Miami, Florida

I stayed at an airport hotel in Miami, Florida, and my suitcase was offloaded from the hotel shuttle bus at a stop before my drop-off point and it was missing for several hours before being handed in to Lost and Found after my flight departed.

I contacted the hotel about it, and they accepted responsibility for it, but it took them several days to send someone to collect it and then ship it to me, and so in the end I was without my belongings for about 2 weeks.

In that time I bought some basic essentials to tide me over (toiletries, basic non-branded clothing etc) and sent copies of the receipts to the hotel.

Initially I had thought they intended to reimburse me for these items, but it now seems that they just wanted to track my spend so that they could offer an 'appropriate level of compensation' which to them means hotel loyalty points.

I have no desire to use their hotels in the future, and although additional compensation would be nice, I basically just want to recoup the cost of what I spent, which would not have been necessary if it weren't for their error.

Are they legally required to cover such costs? Any advice would be appreciated.


r/legaladvice • • 1d ago

Employment Law Accidentally shared my wage at work. What are my rights?

901 Upvotes

Location: Oregon I’ve been at a new dental office for about a month. On my first day they asked me to not share my wage with anyone. I also not get an offer letter or any hiring forms about my wage or hours. Over the weekend I was trying to apply to an apartment but they were asking for an offer letter from my job stating hours and wage to show I qualified. I didn’t have this so today I was trying to get it. They didn’t seem to want to write one for me. So I asked if I just wrote it up would they sign it. They agreed. Then I made the dumb mistake of asking my coworker if it looked okay before I gave it to the manager to sign. It had my hourly wage on it. It didn’t occur til she already had it in her hand reading and it was too late. She didn’t say anything after but at the end of the day I guess she did after I had left. Because I get a call from the dentist pissed and trying to ask me yes or no did I tell her my wage. I was terrified and struggling to figure out how to respond. I wanted to lie. I didn’t know what to do. It was too late. I never actually told her verbally but she read it. I think I’m going to get fired tomorrow. Not like I even really want to work there anymore but I need the income. I’ve never had a job where wages werent allowed to be spoken about. And I hoped she had to make more than me. But I guess from what happened she doesn’t. I was already scared around the dentist. And the manager. They have short tempers and the littlest thing I’d do I would get snapped at. How they offered me the job was really weird too. Now I’m wondering. What’s the best way to go about this if they do/don’t fire me?


r/legaladvice • • 23h ago

Criminal Law Arrested for assault on LEO during the aftermaths of a seizure

164 Upvotes

good morning folks 🫩.
Location: Ohio, court/police agency we’re dealing with is from Marysville.

My older brother got arrested last friday night over an alleged assault that happened in July of this year. He missed any type of notification of this happening due to an address change he did not report. Im sure that happens a lot, still his fault but, not my point here.

My brother is epileptic and has struggled with constant and sudden seizures for about 4 years now. I have been there a many of times when we had to call EMS, lift him while he’s limp and help EMS convince him to get into the ambulance while he’s confused before.

There is this phase he has after his seizure where, as best as i can describe, he is not his usual self. He’s not aggressive, but in a whole lot of pain. He will have trouble recognizing people he knows and, at his worst has been known to wander. But never has harmed anyone to my knowledge during this phase.

In July he had an unfortunate seizure happen inside of a Sheetz gas station while with two of his co-workers. The cops and EMS were called and the alleged assault happened as they attempted to restrain him. One of his co-workers took a video but it does not show the alleged assault happening. Only my brother calling out for help and attempting to move out of the grasp of the officer and two EMS workers who were actively holding him down.

In the video you can hear his co-workers trying to calm him down and repeatedly telling the officers he was having a seizure. The one officer did not reply or acknowledge them and proceeded to handcuff my brother and eventually struggle enough to put him in a chokehold, which only made him freak out more. Again, no assault can be seen on this phone recording. You can see my brother attempting to grab the officer’s wrist off his collarbone, but my brother was so out of it he wasn’t even looking at the men holding him down. It was clear it wasn’t registering to him what was happening. He repeatedly cried for help and looked to the people around him and pleaded with them. Before the chokehold there was even a moment where his coworkers told him our mother was coming for him and he went limp and complied.

The officer pressing charges on him says he head butted him and drew blood from his nose during the take down, which would be a Class 4 Felony. He is being charged with something that would ruin his life for an action that happened when he wasn’t fully conscious. In my understanding, the officer has to prove INTENT does he not?

He has had two seizures while detained and was put into solitary confinement due to the incidents. What legal grounds can we fight on here? He has a public defender we are meeting today. I would like to make a report against the officer and left a voicemail with the deputy on duty to give us a call back. We are under the understanding that we may still have to find a lawyer to help us, but any information i can use will be immensely appreciated. Thank you all in advance.


r/legaladvice • • 7m ago

Small Claims Procedure Advice on how to go about suing home warranty.

• Upvotes

I will condense this as much as possible, but it’s been ongoing and a lot of back and forth.
I have American home Sheild, I opened a claim in July for my freezer not working. They send a guy who says the sealed system needs replaced not worth the repair better to replace since it’s an older fridge. Apparently AHS says we’ll send someone to fix it, so after a month of waiting (2 contractors who won’t answer, 1 outside of their area) I get connected with someone. This man lied about coming out on aug 24 and putting parts in to AHS, while telling me he was waiting for parts. Waited til beginning of sept and called AHS to find out the ticket is closed bc he claimed he put parts in. Tell them no he hasn’t even been to my home yet! Reopened and speak to him he says I’m just gonna tell them it needs replaced. Fine, finally get approval that I would receive a new fridge or cash in lieu payment. Well it’s only $600 left of my $2k budget because he took $1400 in parts and labor. They said they sent him parts and he claims to have put parts in and been out twice. Bold face lie. Tell the scammer what they said and he claims no I didn’t get that much and I’ll call them and make it right even if I have to pay it back blah blah. Well of course he won’t and he’s sticking to his lies and I’ve been fighting with AHS since, I’ll be told we’ll send a tech out to verify there are no new parts in the fridge and then we’ll adjust your CIL and then someone else will turn around close that ticket and say no the CIL stands the scammer says he put parts in so nothing we can do. And I keep pointing out, it’s not he said she said, I have the proof! And why are yall okay with this man lying and scamming yall too!? And this cycle has now gone on over a month and I’m done. I need help with the steps to sue. I’m in Ohio, so I believe the first step is to file with Ohio attorney general? But any advice and help with how to go about this and or lawyers for this type of thing would be so truly appreciated. Thank you.

Location: just outside of Cleveland Ohio


r/legaladvice • • 5h ago

Landlord is ordering packages for herself using my name

4 Upvotes

Location: Alaska

I apologize for the throw away account but I feel very uncomfortable and bugged out by this situation.

History/context: my husband and I moved into this apartment about 6 weeks ago with our child. Landlord insisted on me skipping the application and background/credit check and only going off of my husband's because I'm a stay at home mom, so I just skipped straight to signing the lease without the application part.

I received an email two days ago from a clothing website (a legit website) with a confirmation for an order that was about $120. I have never seen or used this website before. In the shipping details, my full legal/government name is listed along with my email and my phone number. However, the address and the billing address are both listed as her address. As far as billing information, it only shows up as "credit card". I have been religiously checking my bank statements and my credit statements and there's nothing out of the ordinary that I can see. I'm nervous on confronting her right away as she knows my husband is out of state for work for the next several weeks.

Do I file a police report? Should I confront her? Has anyone ever been in this type of situation before? What kind of scam could this be? I feel extremely unsettled by this and why she would be ordering things for herself using my name and personal details. Any recommendations on how to move forward properly would be very much appreciated.


r/legaladvice • • 21h ago

My website was cloned and I can't prove I am myself to assert copyright

86 Upvotes

Location: Iowa, United States

This is kind of a ridiculous situation. I have a website that is in the format firstnamelastname dot com and includes my name, biography and photo. It also includes a couple hundred blog posts that rank highly on Google.

When I was moving countries, the domain and hosting didn't renew since it was attached to my old credit card that got closed. By the time I had realized, someone had bought the domain. The annoying thing is they copied all of my content to their hosting, and removed all references to my email address. They also removed a couple posts that were linked elsewhere (e.g. on my LinkedIn) to prevent me from proving authorship. I have a Wayback Machine of the "about" page listing my email before they removed it, but that's about it.

My attempt to get the site delisted on Google is failing because they won't accept proof the content is mine, and the content doesn't exist anywhere else. Even though my photo is still on the site! It appears the domain is registered overseas according to WHOIS and uses Cloudflare as a CDN, so I've submitted an abuse report to them.

Legal Question(s): How do I assert copyright on my photo or other content I wrote?


r/legaladvice • • 9h ago

Landlord Tenant Housing I believe my landlord is stealing my water

9 Upvotes

I’ve been renting a house in Los Angeles for about three years, and I recently found out that my landlord had divided the backyard without me knowing. The fencing looked like a normal backyard fence, so I had no reason to think that part of the yard wasn’t included with my rental.
Recently, my landlord contacted me and told me he was building an ADU and that the section of the yard behind the fence was actually his property. He lives in a separate house on a neighboring property that runs parallel to mine, so his backyard and mine face each other.

I noticed that he had been using the section of the yard that I thought was part of my rental and had been preparing it for the ADU he’s currently building. I also noticed a water line at the far end of that section with a garden hose attached to it.

Now I’m wondering if he’s been using my water for the past three years without my knowledge. I’m almost certain that the water line connects to my house, which would explain why my LADWP bills have been so high over the years.

What can I do about this? Is there a way to find out if the water line is connected to my house, and if he has been using my water all this time, can I hold him responsible for the cost?

Location: Los Angeles, CA


r/legaladvice • • 19h ago

Wills Trusts and Estates Turns out my Aunt is a really bad person

49 Upvotes

I will start by saying, I don't know how to use reddit but I listen to Two Hot Takes and have seen how helpful this platform can be, so I am shooting my shot.

Location: Utah

Setting the scene: Grandma in her 90s. Grandma had 3 children. Oldest: Aunt Wonderful. Middle: My Dad. Youngest: Aunt Snake.

Several months ago, my dad went to get Grandma her usual groceries. This was the norm and Dad always paid with Grandma's debit card. Grandma should have had a bunch of money.

Grandpa died in 2008, left Grandma set up to live out the rest of her life comfortably. With her income and outgoing bills, she should have been saving about $1000+ monthly, give or take life's expenses coming up. Basically, Grandma should have had some dough saved up. Lots of it.

However, on this fateful grocery trip of normal groceries at inflated prices, her card declined. Dad thought it was just technology being dumb, paid for Grandmas groceries himself and figured he would withdraw some of Grandma's money later to pay himself back and life would go on as normal.

When he went to do just that, the account was empty. He hadn't looked at Grandma's bank account for a very long time because there was no reason to. Grandma didn't have credit cards. Grandma didn't have a computer. Grandma didn't stay up late watching QVC. Grandma's expenses never changed. It was Aunt Snake's job to monitor the accounts, and she never said anything was ever fishy or suspicious. Aunt Snake has an accounting degree after all, so who better to monitor boring financial accounts than her? Turns out? Literally anyone else.

The account being empty was a MASSIVE red flag. My parents immediately went to the bank to get statements and to remove Aunt Snake from every account. Grandma was broken hearted to learn what her youngest daughter had potentially done.

My parents got records for 4 years. They should have gotten 7 but were in a bit of denial that things could have potentially been that bad. My mom went through every single transaction and sorted what she knew was Grandma's and what wasn't.

What did she find?

All of Grandpa's money? Gone

Profit from selling Grandma's car 7 years ago? Gone. Should have been $14k

A CREDIT CARD - MAXED OUT: $22,500 (remember, Grandma never had a credit card herself)

Transactions that are undoubtedly Aunt Snakes: $55k

Zero savings from the surplus of $1000 she should have had per month for over a decade.

My question? What next? My parents were revising the trust with Grandma to say that Aunt snake got 1/3 of the estate MINUS what she stole + attorney fees (and other fees) and were going to leave it at that. They had an appointment this week to revise the trust BUT Grandma decided to peace out on the 15th of this month and join Grandpa. So. We are all broken hearted and Aunt Snake has gone into overdrive to liquidate the estate and take her money and run. I'm sure she is already spending what she thinks she is going to get.

She has expressed zero remorse, doesn't want anyone to tell her husband or her kids, and doesn't grasp the gravity of the situation.

My parents are ready to press charges but aren't sure the appropriate way to do it.

We are in Utah and the theft only goes to Felony 2 but could be enhanced with Exploitation of an elderly person (I am not sure of the terminology. Aunt Snake was in a position of trust with an elderly woman and stole a ton of money, so whatever that translates to).

What do we do? Personally, I just want to be messy and make her life a living hell, but I know that this is serious and needs handled appropriately to be rectified. At a minimum we want it on her record so people know to be leery around her and money. At a maximum? Pay back every cent and comprehend the severity of her "silly spending".

Location: Utah


r/legaladvice • • 6h ago

Custody Divorce and Family My mother is dating a convicted child predator

6 Upvotes

Location: Ny

Hi reddit. Never thought I'd be doing this but here I am. I am 26f I live just down the road from my mother and 2 sisters. Youngest being 15 oldest being 21 and disabled. My mother is desperate to find someone to spend her days with as she's getting older and misses having a partner. She started talking to this man from Illinois and fell hard and fast. She has plans to move in with him next summer with my sisters in tow and I had a bad feeling about it from the start considering they've only been talking for a couple of months and are making such drastic life altering plans so quickly. So I decided to google this man for any info on him, and I found a link to how to catch a predator. He was charged on "criminal attempt to commit statutory rape" as well as "Criminal attempt to commit child molestation". I told my mother what I had found, and she sounded as though she was going to cut things off but he has somehow convinced her that it was 20 years ago so it means "nothing" that he's "a different man now" and she is choosing to believe him. he was convicted and served 4 years in prison with a 6-year probation. He has told her it got expunged because he was in the military. fan-fuckin-tastic. She still is planning on moving with my sisters by next summer if not sooner now that I am applying pressure for her to not do this. Is there literally anything I can do to keep my mother from making the single worst mistake of her life and endangering the welfare of my sisters?


r/legaladvice • • 0m left

Consumer Law Car in shop for three months, part back ordered, what now?

• Upvotes

Location: Iowa. We have a 2022 Kia telluride that has been at the dealer for service since the first week of August. It took them several weeks but the issue was finally diagnosed as parasitic battery draw from the radio. Recommended fix is a new radio unit but the part is on back order. And as of Monday there is still no eta for when one might be available. We are going on three months without the vehicle. We finally got a loaner after six weeks but it’s a Sportage so lacks the space we often need. Where do we go from here? Has anyone experienced this? I’m ready to throw in the towel except we are less than a year from paying it off and wouldn’t get nearly enough from selling it for a new vehicle. I’m not interested in another five years of car payments. We have the extended warranty but that’s only paying for the fix which doesn’t help us if no part is available. What do we even ask for? Buy it back from us? Swap it out with a new vehicle? Of course Iowa lemon law only covers first two years. Do we need an attorney? What kind?