Minnesota Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Garnishing funds comes about in a judgment creditor situation.  Joe gets a judgment for $1,000 against Jane, and Jane doesn't pay, so Joe follows the legal process to garnish funds which a third party owes Jane - Jane's employer, or tenant, or anyone who owes Jane money - to get them paid to Joe to help satisfy Jane's debt to Joe.  Apparently the judgment creditor believes that you owe money to the judgment debtor, and has served you with a garnishment requiring you not to pay the money to the judgment debtor, but rather to pay the money to the creditor's attorney.... Read Answer

Do not bother calling your credit card companies unless you have substantial funds to make a settlement offer to them. They will not enter into any type of payment plan with you, as you could make the normal monthly payments when the credit card was in good standing there knocking expect to be able to do it now that you're in default. Considering your total unsecured debt being approximately $50,000, chapter 7 bankruptcy would be the best option for you. I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where my firm is located. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.    Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO LAW GROUP Attorneys At Law http://massachusettslawyeronline.com/ 901 Eastern Ave.  Unit 2 Fall River, MA 02723  Office:  888-269-0688 FAX:    877-475-8147 #bankruptcy  #lawyer  #FallRiver  #Chapter7  #chapter13  #debt  #debtsettlement  #foreclosure  #attorney   #cantpaybills  #lawsuit  #court  #bankruptcycourt  #eviction  #lostmyjob, #student, #loans, #education, #IRS, #taxes... Read Answer

Depending on if your mortgage is up to date will determine if you will file either chapter 7 bankruptcy or chapter 13 bankruptcy. If the mortgage is up to date, I would file chapter 7 bankruptcy to remove your unsecured debt and then file a motion to remove the lien and strip your second mortgage. This will allow you to get rid of your unsecured debt and remove the second mortgage from your house which should make things more affordable. You've stated that after paying all your bills every month, there is nothing left, this would indicate to me that you would not be able to file for chapter 13 bankruptcy. I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where my firm is located. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.    Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO LAW GROUP Attorneys At Law http://massachusettslawyeronline.com/ 901 Eastern Ave.  Unit 2 Fall River, MA 02723  Office:  888-269-0688 FAX:    877-475-8147 #bankruptcy  #lawyer  #FallRiver  #Chapter7  #chapter13  #debt  #debtsettlement  #foreclosure  #attorney   #cantpaybills  #lawsuit  #court  #bankruptcycourt  #eviction  #lostmyjob, #student, #loans, #education, #IRS, #taxes... Read Answer

Hello. You'll be prosecuted for a criminal theft offense. Having something like this on your permanent record will be detrimental to your future work opportunities. An attorney can help you take some proactive steps to put you in a better light for the court. From there, we would challenge the charges and the evidence against you while simultaneously working with the prosecutor to try to reach a deal that keeps the crime off of your record. Definitely hire an attorney. It will be money well spent to protect your future as much as possible. Feel free to give me a call or an email to discuss your options.... Read Answer

Driving after revocation is a misdemeanor crime in Minnesota. The maximum penalty for a misdemeanor is 90 days jail and a $1,000 fine. You won't see anywhere near those maximum penalties though. Instead, your strategy should be to reach a deal to keep these charges off of your driving record. If either DAR hits your record, then the state will suspend your license for longer periods of time. Hire a lawyer to help you get through these cases without impacting your record and your license.... Read Answer

You are allowed to apply for political asylum. The one year rule does not apply to you as you are a student, and I assume that you are maintaining F-1 status. Whether you have a good chance of obtaining it depends upon the facts of your case. There is much strife going on in the world today, and the U. S. does not wish to be inundated with the suffering multitudes of all different countries. U. S. immigration law allows asylum to be granted to those who can show that they have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, nationality, social group, political opinion, or religion. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read Answer

This would likely be a 5th Degree Controlled Substance Possession crime. It's punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. You wouldn't see nearly that level of consequences. What you should be thinking more about is whether you're going to end up with a permanent felony conviction. You should hire an experienced lawyer to defend you. We can challenge the charges and the evidence against you while at the same time negotiating with the prosecutor for a deal that keeps this thing off of your record.... Read Answer

If those are the only facts, yes.  Of course, there are many things you don't mention which could change my answer, for example:        Will the debtor claim that the contract was modified or a new contract made after the signed paper?      Will the debtor claim the money was paid, in whole or part, or is not yet due?      Will the debtor claim that he/she signed the paper as a result of duress, mutual mistake, or fraud?      Will the debtor claim that he/she was too young, or otherwise lacked the capacity to contract when he/she signed?      Will the debtor claim that the agreement was illegal, for example that he/she was agreeing to pay you for sex, or to kill someone?      Will the debtor claim that his/her signature was forged?      Having a document signed by the debtor acknowledging his/her debt to you is a pretty good case, but I can't say for certain that you will win based on that paper without knowing whether the debtor has any defenses to your claim.... Read Answer

That depends.  If you, or your lawyer, agreed subject to execution of a formal written agreement (which is often the case with settlement agreements), then you have no contract.  For example, if you said "I agree, write it up.", you may have a contract; if you said "I agree, we'll work out the details in the paperwork" you probably don't have a contract.  Also, in some jurisdictions (I don't know about Minnesota), a settlement agreement may have to be in writing, or agreed to in open court, to be binding, and there may be additional formalities required. Assuming that there is no need for a signed writing for a valid settlement agreement in Minnesota, the question is whether you are bound by the additional terms.  Unfortunately, I don't think the answer is black and white.  Normally, there is no contract unless both sides have agreed on all material terms (I'm assuming that the terms to which you object are material).  Here, although you may not have agreed to all material terms, you may be bound by your lawyer's agreement, as he is your agent.  Did your lawyer know that you had not seen his email with the additional terms?  If he thought that you had seen that email and had agreed to the other terms, and he communicated acceptance to the other side, you may be bound by it.  EVen if he knew you had not seen the additional terms, but accepted on your behalf anyway, you could be bound by it (although you could sue the lawyer.)  Alternatively, the agreement might be considered void for mutual mistake; you thought you were agreeing to one thing while the other side thought you were agreeing to something else. I'm sorry I can't give you a short final answer.  If a settlement agreement has to be written and signed to be valid, you're ok.  If not, there are questions.... Read Answer

One methodology might be to estimate the hours you spent putting together the proprietary information you lost and multiply that by your customary hourly rate of compensation.  If you're looking for a more sophisticated model, and one which will yield a higher number, there are experts available who can come up with a methodology to value the proprietary information you lost, and testify about it.  However that doesn't necessarily mean that you will be able to recover that amount.  A court may consider the valuation to be too speculative to be used as evidence.  I wonder, did you ever value the laptop for insurance or any other purposes?  If, in applying for homeowner's insurance for example, you valued the laptop at $500, for example, you may be bound by that valuation now (assuming that the laptop contained all the information you lost at the time you valued it.)... Read Answer

By  selling him the galaxy in exchange for the iphone, you impliedly represented that you had good tiltle to the galaxy, which you did not.  You breached the contract of sale by giving him a phone which you didn't own.  Another way to look at it is that there was a failure of consideration - the other guy didn't receive the consideration he bargained for in the transaction - a phone - and is therefore entitled to rescind the contract and get his phone back (and you would have to pay whatever charges you had put on the phone and any damages the phone had suffered while in your possession.)... Read Answer

Yes you can, but there are a number of restrictions and requirements. I have written an article that outlines the entire process please follow the link here: http://ezinearticles.com/?Can-I-File-Chapter-7-Bankruptcy-on-Income-Taxes?&id=8715191   I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where my firm is located. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.    Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO LAW GROUP Attorneys At Law http://fallriverbankruptcyattorney.com/ 901 Eastern Ave.  Unit 2 Fall River, MA 02723  Office:  888-269-0688 FAX:    877-475-8147 #bankruptcy  #lawyer  #FallRiver  #Chapter7  #chapter13  #debt  #debtsettlement  #foreclosure  #attorney   #cantpaybills  #lawsuit  #court  #bankruptcycourt  #eviction  #lostmyjob, #student, #loans, #education, #IRS, #taxes... Read Answer

You should seriously consider hiring a lawyer to represent you. The consequences for this crime will likely be minimal. However, the more important thing at play is a permanent criminal record. You want to get a lawyer to help you try to work out an arrangement to avoid that criminal conviction. Good luck.... Read Answer