Virginia Civil Litigation Legal Questions

You can be sued for anything, but the statute of limitations on a 2003 credit card debt has likely expired unless it was extended for some reason, such as you making a payment or otherwise acknowledging the debt within the limitations period.  Please note, that while hte limitations period on the debt has likely run, if the creditor had already sued you and obtained a judgment against you, the limitations period for collecting on that judgment has not run.    P.s. even thugh you assert that you never had a debt that high, you have to remember that interest at a high rate is accruing on any balance for a long time, plus your contract likely will also  provide for certain expenses of collection to be added to your debt.... Read More

You have a breach of contract claim against your contractor.  He both breached the contract with the specific question of 9 feet ceilings.   He also violated the building codes which are implicit any contract.   The problem is the contractors insurance may not cover this defect unless there was ancillary damage to other parts of the property.   I am presuming you did not require or request a bond as most residential owners do not.   Hopefully your contractor has some assets and/or some scruples and will fix the problem for you at his cost. ... Read More

I don't think anyone can answwer your question without a lot more infomraiton.  What does that mean "my name is in it?"  Are you a trustee?  A primary beneficiary?  A secondary beneficiary?  What are the terms of the trust?  Is there any quesiton of your friend's competence at the time he created the trust?  Etc. ... Read More

First let me say that I'm sorry you have had to endure such abuse and that his family is piling on to add insult to injury. How horrible!  To answer your question about how to go about suing your ex-husband I can only say that you really need to hire a lawyer to do this. I would not recommend that you try to handle this yourself.  However, if you are unable to afford a lawyer or can't find one who will do it on contingency then you could file a Warrant in Debt in the General District Court.  This is something you could do yourself -it is just a form you fill out, which is available online or at the courthouse.  However, if your ex-husband is incarcerated then he would have to have a guardian ad litem appointed to represent his interests and getting the GAL appointed could be difficult for you.  Again, you would probalby want to hire a lawyer to help you.  ... Read More

I'm not sure what your question is, but you should know that in any suit against the landlord's estate, you may have a problem with thedeadman'statute which, assuming it is still in force in Virginia ,prohibits any interested party from testifying as to oral communications he/she had with the decedent against whom he/she is claiming.  Your witness could testify to the oral agreement, assuming the witness is not interested (i.e. does not benefit financially from the agreement) but you would not be allowed to.... Read More

If  Virginia law is hte same as where I practice, yes (keep the car until the repair bills are paid, not lose your car).  BTW, you are not a co-opwner just because you are a co-borrower, but I will assume that you are also on the title.  In any event, a co-owner of hte car brought it in for repair.  If he was not expressly authorized by you, the other co-owner, to do so, it appears (based on the limited facts you've set forth) that he was impliedly aughorized as a matter of law.  Incidentally, those repairs increased the value of the car, thus benefitting you as well as your bf.  In most states (again, not sure if Va is exactly the same), a mechanic who repairs a vehicle has a mechanic's lien entitling him to retain the vehicle until the repairs are paid for.... Read More

A "cease and desist letter" is simply a letter.  It has no force of law.  It's not an Order from a Judge, or even a lawsuit, therefore there is no proceeding in which to seek summary judgment, nor are you obligated to comply.  No action is required.  Theoretically you could start an action seeking a declaratory judgmetn that you have not been harassing your neighbor, but if all that has happened is that you've received a letter from a lawyer, starting a lawsuit seems like an unwarranted escalation which will cost you time and money.... Read More

You don't have to return gifts, but the question will be whether these were unconditional gifts.  Your ex will no doubt claim otherwise.   For example, he may claim that he did not "give" you the equipment, but only allowed you to use the equipment while the two of you were together.  The fact that title to the trailer would support such a claim.  Ultimately a court would have to decide which of you is telling the truth and, absent some documentary evidence or testimony from some objective party with personal knowledge of the issue. it may come down to he said/she said.... Read More

Your suit would robably be dismissed, at least if the law in Virginia is the same as where I practice, where only those who were in the zone of danger from the action have standing to sue for negligent infliction of emotional distress.  Also, while the sttacket certainly acted wrongly, you haven’t written anything to suggest that the property acted wrongfully or negligently towards you. ... Read More

No judgement is valid if you were never served HOWEVER (a) the documents do not necessarily have to be personally delivered to you to be served; and (b) even if you weren't served, the plaintiff may claim that you were, resulting in a judgment being entered against you which you would have to vacate by proving to the court that you were never served properly.  Bottom line is that you shouldn t just ignore this, but rather should contact the clerk of the court to find out what is going on in your case.  Depending on how much is at stake, you may want to hire a lawyer. ... Read More

Having signed a contract acknowledging that you damaged the heating unit and agreeing to pay for the new one, it is almost certainly now too late to challenge that claim unless you can show that the agreement is invalid for some reason, such as fraud or duress.  You appear to be claiming that you were under duress when you signed the contract because you needed to have the apartment heated for your children, but I don't think this will fly because the law is that you are not under duress if you have the opportunity to go to court to seek relief.  If you didn't believe that you should be responsible for the new heating unit you should have sued your landlord to compel the landlord to install a new unit at the landlord's expense, instead of signing a contract agreeing to pay for the new unit.... Read More

The next step is collecting on the judgment, which typically involves garnishing wages and bank accounts.  If you don't have the information about where they work or bank you can summons them to court to answer debtor interroagories, which is basically just you asking them any questions for this information.  You can also file your judgment with land records to put a lien on any real estate they might own and it's possible to seize any items of value they might have.  You may want to hire a collections lawyer to help you out with this.... Read More

That is terrible that you trusted someone who is supposed to love and stand by you and she has completely screwed you over!  Once you signed the house over to her you essentially relinquished your rights to it.  It's not like a marriage where you may retain rights to it even without your name on it.  However, there may be some hope in trying to show that the retitling of the house to her was a fraudelent transfer, if you received nothing of value from her in the transaction.  There ordinarily has to be done SOME benefits to both parties for a contract to be valid.  This is not a contract case; it's a property case, and I'm not entirely sure if there is a comparable doctrine for property transfers, but again maybe on some kind of fraud theory.... Read More

 Your husband can sue, but I would not as he has suffered no damages; although he was choking, the problem was resolved with no expense and (presumably) no lasting damage.  Even if your claim was not dismissed, you would not collect much.  I would think that a complaint to the corporate office might get you further.... Read More

Married or not, you have no responsibility for the actions of someone else or someone else's dog (with limited exceptions for married people that are not applicable here).  However, it is unclear to me that you had no responsiblity for the dog, as you state that "our dog" was not on its leash.  Also, whether you own the dog or not, if it was in your care and YOU decided not to have it on the leash, you could be liable for your actions if they are found to be negligent.  However, neither of these potential bases for liability has anything to do with whether you are married to your fiance or not.  In sum, your assets could possibly be at risk, but not because you are married or unmarried, at the time of the incident or now.... Read More

Assuming that the property was owned by your grandfather (i.e. that he had not gifted it to her, it was not jointly owned, etc.), it would pass according to his will, which might have to be probated, particularly if there are any disputes as to anyone's rights to it.  If your grandfather had no will, his property would pass according to the laws of intestacy.  I am not familiar with the intestacy laws of D.C., but in general intestacy laws don't protect girlfriends; property would be divided amongst close surviving relatives.  Thus, for example, if your grandfather was survived by any children, grandchildren may not receive anything.... Read More

A contractual choice of forum provision (i.e. that "all legal hearings would be in the state of the seller") is generally enforceable. so the case would be heard in Virginia.  Absent such a provision, the case probably could have been heard in either Virginia or Michigan.  However, the "$15,000 fine" is probably not enforceable.  It will likely be considered a penalty, and therefore unenforceable, rather than a valid liquidated damages provision. "Costs" are not the same as attorneys' fees.  "Costs" are minimal, i.e. filing fees, fees for service of the complaint, etc.  IF you meant to include attorneys fees, generally you would have to be much more specific, and also provide for mutuality, i.e. that the losing party will pay the winner's attorneys' fees, whomever wins.  At any rate, regardless of the contract, I don't think the buyer would be responsible for costs or attorneys' fees if the buyer wins the case. ... Read More

You can state that you believe you had the right of way for a number of reasons, "including but not limited to Code of Virginia Section 55-.......," etc etc   It would be best if you state all the factual reasons that you believe support your having had the right of way, and if you find more Code Sections to support the facts you state, you'd likely be allowed to state as much. The best course would be to thoroughly review the code sections on traffic and then list anything that possibly supports your claim. The idea of a BOP and Grounds of Defense is to avoid "stealth" positions.    Good luck... Read More

You mean "Confessed Judgment" and no they cannot make your sign it. Check with your bank to get a copy of your check, or with the insurance company for a copy of their check if you just sent it on, and explain to them what happened. You are not necessarily responsible for your husband's medical bills, except emergency treatment, unless you signed an agreement to be responsible for them. Be very very careful about signing anything unless a lawyer reviews it.  If they sue you and you can prove it was already paid, they may have to reimburse you for your legal fees. ... Read More