Civil Litigation Legal Questions

You are claiming that the landlord breached your contract, which was, according to you.,to allow your pet to stay in the building as long as you left a deposit, which would be returned if your pet caused no damage.  Assuming that the court believes your story (the notation on the payment will be helpful, but I don't know what evidence the landlord has on his/her side), and not the landlord's, you would be entitled to the return of your deposit, plus interest at whatever the Utah statutory rate is for the extra time the landlord kept it.  Unless Utah law is very different from the law in the states in which I practice, you have no right to punitive damages, and anyway a small claims court would probably not have the power to award any.  You also probably do not have the right to the interest you incurred on your loan, unless you informed the landlord at the time you contracted that you would suffer this damage if he/she breached, since this would be consequential damages which are not recoverable unless they were within the contemplation of the parties at the time of contracting.... Read More

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

This is a CARMACK case. They are very expensive and very complicated to pursue. You need to focus on finding a consumer lawyer that handles such cases. WHaving handled some in the past, you will likely find yourself in federal court based on your damages claim, and your case will revolve around the waivers and damages elections you made and paid for with the shipping company on the bill of lading. ... Read More

You used settled and paid off in the same reference and they are different concepts. If you settled by paying less than you owed as they claim, then you need to have written confirmation from them that you settled the account and paid it off. Otherwise, unless you have evidence that you paid in full and they are wrong calculating what you owe, then your documents for the payment history of the account will carry the day - but understand that if you lost this or that - the banks records showing NON-PAYMENT will carry the day if all you have is "I am pretty sure that was paid that month". If this is an Italked to the guy on the phone and made a deal case - those generally don't get far from the consumer side. ... Read More

No practical means. No lawyer will pursue a resident LL, usually elderly or poor, renting rooms for violation of Fla. Stat. 83.67 for a variety of reasons starting with being uncollectable. Your best bet is to use a friends compuer or public library. You can try legal aid, but they are swamped with COVID eviction issues. ... Read More

Not likely as your story is not credible. Starting with the "I don't know who it was" story - when if they have your car, you darn skippy know who it was if not you, or can find out easily. Unlike a criminal case, you have no 5th amendment privilege in a civil case and can be charged with perjury if you play dumb and it turns out it IS someone you know or can ID. Obvioiusly, the State Atorney is not so convinced if the case is still pending and the Shaggy defense is not carrying the day. If you are convicted or plea to the charges, you will likely eliminate any claim you might have, as you would at least need the charges dropped and preferably an acquital at trial. ... Read More

Nope - not how that works. As a co-signor you essentially vouch for the other person with your wallet. If they default  - YOU pay. That does nothing to entitle you to own or take the vehicle from the prinicpal debtor. What you did was ridiculously foolish and now you see why. At best you can try to have the buyer sell you the car and transfer title to you and then try to refinance. ... Read More

It sounds like you have taken significant steps on your own with limited success.  From here, you will probably be best served by retaining an attorney to represent you.  I suggest finding a real estate attorney in the county where the property is located to investigate, review the situation with you in detail and advise you. Best of luck.... Read More

Noise ordinances are often handled through the local municipality.  You can check there to see what is permitted.  There may also be zoning issues to consider.  Ultimately, whether or not you have a viable cause of action against thei business is going to require a more indepth analysis.  I recommend sitting down with an attorney in your area to review and advise you. Best of luck.... Read More

You do have some privacy rights, even more so in a restroom.  I'm not sure why law enforcement did not pursue the issue.  You may want to follow up with them or contact another law enforcement agency with concurrent jurisdiction (city & county, e.g.).  It sounds like you may be well served by hiring an attorney to assist you with this matter.   Best of luck.... Read More

Anyone can sue for anything, so the technical answer to your question is yes.  From what you've written, you do seem to have a good case against the people who claimed that you were a thief, assuming that they knew this to be false when the published it.  Not sure about Facebook; it may depend on how indisputable the proof was that you showed facebook to prove that the statements were false.... Read More

As a general rule, gifts once given belong to the recipient.  Some states (not sure about Texas) make an exception for gifst given in contemplation of marriage, which generally means the engagement ring.  In many, if not most, of these states, this rule applies only when the recipient is the one who broke the engagement, although this situation may be an exception, if you can show that the gift was not given unconditionally but was given in contemplation of marriage.... Read More

The facts are a little unclear from your question.  Was she in the vehicle fleeing from law enforcement or just an innocent bystander?  Officers may or may not have been justified in firing on the vehicle.  Ultimately, "what can I do" is going to be too complex for this type of forum.  You need to sit down with an attorney to review the entire case in detail and advise of you of your options.   Best of luck.... Read More

Do you have a contract (either personal or through a union; it could be created by an employee handbook) which limits your employer's right to terminate your employment or requires it to follow specific procedures for doing so?  If not, your employer can fire you for any reason or no reason except those that are prohibited by statute (e.g. race, religion, etc.)  Your employer is not required to give you any notice, or "put it in writing" unelss a contract or statute requires it to do so.  I am unaware of any federal statute which would require it, but it is possible that there is a local Alabama statute which would.... Read More

Well unless YOU own the house at all, the only person NOT having a legal right to be there is you, so your best bet is to move out immediately. That stated, they should not be addressing anything with the personal property other than to secure what is the dedecents for adminstration by the probabte court. If they are on the deed and you are not, they may well own the house already so you will need to retain a probate lawyer to address any rights you may try to claim to stay there etc.  ... Read More

Hi Kyle if your wife's grandmother owned property, and her negligence resulted at least partially in the damages that your wife suffered, then technically her homeowners policy, at the time period the incidents happened, could be a source of potential recovery. There are statute of limitations issues that would need to be researched, but some counsel including myself do look at these cases from a contingency fee standpoint. Specifically, how old was your wife when the last incident regarding sexual abuse by her uncle happened to her? And how many years ago was that.? And how old is your wife currently?... Read More

Any California lawyer can write  a simple letter like the one you propose, provided you are willin to pay the attorney for his/her services.  Given that this is s small claims case, and you're not sure the thieves will comply, I'm not sure it's worth it.  You can sue in small claims court, but many small claims courts can only award money damages; you would have to sue in a court of general jurisdiciton to get an order compelling the thieves to return your dog (('m not sure if this is true in California).  If they didn't appear in court, yo9u would almost certainly win by default.  Thereafter, if they were ordered by the court to return the dog and didn't, the court could hold htem in contempt of court, and they could face many penalties, up to and including jail.  Needless to say, this is not as simple as it sounds and you will have to expend a lot of time pursuing this matter before you could ever get them incarcerated for contempt in a case like this, particularly as it would probably be very difficult to locate people who are vagrants.. If the dog is no longer in their possession, the only relief you could obtain from them would be a money judgment.  You would hae to sue the person who now has the dog to get it back, and you might not win, depending onwhehter that person bought the dog having no reason to believe that it was stolen.... Read More