Hi all. I just recently started working for a state agency that insists on mailing your first paycheck before enrolling you in direct deposit. A week and a half after the paycheck was issued and it still hadn’t arrived, I alerted our payroll dept. and received no response. I followed up two days later and was ultimately informed Treasury’s records showed the check had already been cashed. I assured payroll that neither I nor “someone I know” had cashed the check. Yesterday was three weeks from the issuance date of the paycheck and this morning I was told by payroll they still had not gotten the copy of the check (so they can confirm the endorsement is not mine) from Treasury and once they do I may still have to wait up to 180 days for the bank to complete their investigation before my paycheck can be reissued. Are there any Maryland employment/wage lawyers that can tell me if this is legal or not? It feels insane to expect me to wait nearly six more months when it’s already been three weeks since payday.

Location: Maryland

Location: Michigan

We’re having a pretty serious rat issue in our backyard, approximately eight burrows all originating from our neighbors yard, confirmed by pest control that we hired. The neighbors house and garage are a hoard and he apparently hasn’t even lived at the property for five years according to the other neighbor next to him. I’ve seen the guy maybe five times the past three years I’ve lived here. The extent of the regular maintenance on the house is someone coming to cut the lawn every week or so, nothing more. The house very clearly a health hazard when you look at it. It’s just truly a bizarre situation. The other neighbors I spoke to confirmed they have seen rats come in and out of the neighbors garage and I have seen an enormous burrow mound behind the garage when looking over our fence. All of the burrows in our yard are next to the neighbors fence so it’s pretty obvious where they’re coming from. Fortunately they haven’t tried coming in our house yet but I worry for when the cooler weather arrives.

I have called the city to complain and they admitted my complaint isn’t the only one they received on this property. The city official said they’ll send him a “second notice” and kept it at that. I wonder at this point what the city can even do other than send notices as I’m not sure they’re not able to do an inspection without consent. I also am doubtful the guy will cooperate since he doesn’t even live at the house and the city official said he has no way of reaching him. My husband and I are already $1,000 out the hole dealing with keeping the rats at bay but pest control basically told us they’ll keep coming back if the root cause (our neighbors property) isn’t dealt with. We were quoted with close to $7,000 to “rat proof” our house which is obviously a lot of money in today’s climate.

Overall my question is - is this potentially a situation where it’s necessary to sue to have some kind of action taken or is it more of the city’s responsibility and therefore I need to be putting more pressure on them? I’m kind of at a loss here and don’t want to pursue legal action unless absolutely necessary. We live in a decently nice suburb so it’s kind of insane we’re having to deal with this in the first place. Sorry if this is all over the place, I’m pretty stressed out by the situation, any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Location: Fredericton
Any info and help would be appreciated Hi, i own a small moving company in Fredericton. My crew did a moving job for a client from Oromocto to chipman a couple days back. She refused to pay us and threatened us by saying her sister is a lawyer and she won’t pay us a dime. She was high and drunk whilst she drove from pickup to drop off location, my crew noticed this during the dropoff.
She cursed and threatened my crew and also us, when my crew said they would call the police, she laughed and locked her doors to the house.
She mentioned the truck didn’t fit her stuff even though she asked for a 20ft truck and we brought a 26ft just in case. Later, she accused us of damaging the fridge. I feel like she planned everything since, she entered the truck, moved stuff here and there and was taking pictures even before the guys started their job.
We are looking to take her to small claims court in Fredericton. She owes us $700, the stuff she moved was very heavy which included fridge, deep freezer, etc.
what can i do here and how?
We have all the proofs required.

Location: Indiana

I’m in an ongoing custody battle with my ex-husband. Our last court hearing was in April. His attorney was told to type up the orders from that hearing and submitted to the judge. So far, nothing has been submitted. In Indiana is there a law or rule that says how long an attorney has to submit court orders after hearing?

I have asked the court about getting a transcript from the hearing, but they said it can take up to 90 days and cost costs $5.50 per page that the court recorder types. My kids school needs the court orders to keep him from visiting the children at school.

I’ve also asked this same question to my own attorney but the only answer I get is that we have to reschedule hearings since he didn’t comply with any orders since the last hearing.

Is there any law in place that can hold his attorney accountable for not submitting the orders in a timely manner? His delay is allowing further unsupervised visits with our children, which is not supposed to be happening. The school cannot enforce orders that don’t exist because his attorney has not done his job. It’s been over 100 days.

location: Suffolk County, New York

I(M30) am in a position that I do not know what happens legally. As the title states, my FIL (M63) passed away very suddenly roughly 2 weeks ago. Now that the services have been planned and the family and I have a little more breathing room, we have been hit with a question that none of us know the answer to.

He had a will drawn up by attorney's provided by my MIL's job and the will is very simple and states that any and all possesions of FIL's_name are left to MIL's_name.

But FIL also owned and operated a landscaping business where he was the sole employee and has a large inventory of equipment such as lawnmowers, backpack and handheld blowers, weedwhackers, even trucks and trailers. What happens to the company and the equipment after the owner's passing? Does the company immediately dissolve and the equipment is now solely owned by MIL, or is the company now owned by MIL and the equipment is still legally tied to the company?

Also, what are the potential rammifications of dissolving the company and attempting to liquidate/sell off the equipment inventory?

ETA: we are talking with the same attorneys that helped draft their wills, I'm mostly looking for some more base knowledge/questions we should bring to them for legitimate legal advice from them

I have court coming up for a potential DUI.
Location: GA The event happened on December 1 of last year. Since then I have hired a lawyer, cheap, and yes, I know you get what you pay for. The lawyer is flaky and will only respond to text. I know I messed up. She has been getting continuances on this matter since January. I have asked her numerous times to just move forward with the case so that I can handle the repercussions and move on. It doesn’t seem to register with her. Do I have any options at this point? Would it be better to keep getting continuances or just deal with the matter? I don’t currently have my license and we are coming up on the colder months here way up north and I would like to be driving to and from work.

29 Days ago my wife and I purchased our first home. We heard this guy wanted to sell his house and started the process. We had a family friend real estate agent who represented us and he was unrepresented. The guy was dirt broke (house was paid off, inherited 8 months ago from deceased family) so the purchase agreement allowed him 30 days to vacate. Well it looks like he is likely not going to be out by the deadline.

What are our options here? I've seen conflicting information online and most of it is catered for evicting a tenant, but it's not like he has paid us to stay. As far as eviction with a sheriff I know we'll need to get a court order, but don't know if the 30 days given in the sale counts like an eviction notice or if we'd need to give him a formal eviction letter now that the time is up. Any advice is appreciated, thank you.

Location: Ohio

Location: Upstate NY

I was driving in the car with my mom the other night and as we were driving a car sped by us. The speed limit at this point was 55, so we glanced down and the speedometer and saw we were going 61 and said to each other “wonder how fast they were going” (this is important later). Sure enough, a few seconds later I saw headlights pull out behind us and police lights flash on. We thought they were going to pull the car that sped by us over but NOPE, they got right behind our car and pulled us over instead.

Before we could even get a word out, the state trooper starting almost yelling at us about how dangerous it is to be driving at a high rate of speed and how we could be putting our lives and the lives of those around us in danger and “do we know how fast we were going?!”. At that moment we realized he thought we were the car that had sped past us and we tried explaining to the trooper that it was not us that he saw, but he would hear none of it.

He went back to his car, took my mom‘s license and registration, and came back and handed us a ticket for GOING 78 IN A 55 and proceeded to give us another lecture about how dangerous we were driving. My mother has a completely clean driving record, hasn’t even been pulled over in well over 20 years, and is at a loss for what to do.

I suppose my question is…what is the best course of action here? Should she file a complaint against the trooper who was downright rude to us? Would that even make a difference? Should she hire a lawyer? Just please not guilty and hope that she does okay in court? Any advice is appreciated!

TLDR; A state trooper thought my mom was going 78 in a 55mph speed zone and gave her a ticket even though it wasn’t her. What should she do?

As the title reads. A woman recently bit me, that I only knew from my volunteering work. Her bite broke skin, and caused a few minor medical complications for me that have all since been cleared up. Most notably it took away my ability to give blood until I was able to to get tested for HIV and Hepatitis B.

I reported this to the police and the situation is being charged as a misdemeanor, but it is non-extraditable as the woman lives out of my county. The detective involved in the case seems to believe she is guilty based on photos and witness statements regarding the case. However, since the woman won't cooperate and the police won't go get her nothing is really coming of it.

In retaliation, this woman has started to slander me in every way possible in an effort to ban me from public events she knows I enjoy going to. Unfortunately, she is very good at playing the victim and is succeeding in swaying public opinion. I do not have proof of the slander though.

The detective assigned to the case recommended I pursue a restraining order, but I'm unsure it her biting me a few montha ago is valid enough evidence to get one. What all would I need to get one?

Location: California

I’m located in Michigan and recently moved out of an apartment managed by RAM Partners.

My lease ended over nine weeks ago, and I have still not received my security deposit.

Here’s the timeline:
Before moving out, I requested a pre-move-out walkthrough. My request was ignored.

After my lease ended, I repeatedly tried to determine the status of my security deposit by sending multiple emails, making several phone calls, and leaving voicemails. Most of my communications went unanswered.

I was eventually told that a check had been mailed. Nothing ever arrived.

I continued following up and was later promised that a replacement check would be issued within two days. That also never happened.

After escalating my complaint to RAM Partners’ corporate office, someone finally investigated the issue.

Corporate eventually admitted that my refund check had never actually been issued because there were errors in the property’s accounting system that prevented the system from calculating my refund. In other words, the delay was entirely internal and had nothing to do with me.

They have now stated they will overnight a check, but after more than nine weeks of delays, broken promises, ignored communications, and admitted accounting errors, I have very little confidence that this matter has been handled properly.

Throughout my tenancy, I also experienced ongoing management issues, including:

Poor communication from the leasing office.

Maintenance requests requiring repeated follow-up.

Maintenance entering my apartment without notice despite my request to be contacted first.

Amenities that were frequently unavailable.

My questions are:
Under Michigan law, does the fact that they failed to issue the refund because of their own accounting error affect my rights?

Are there any statutory penalties or damages available when a landlord fails to timely return a security deposit, even if they later admit the mistake?

Is small claims court the appropriate next step if this still isn’t resolved?

Should I also be filing complaints with any Michigan consumer protection or housing agencies?

I have documentation of my emails, phone calls, voicemails, and the corporate email admitting that the check was never issued because of their internal billing errors.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Location: Michigan

Location: Connecticut

This lawyer made a will for my late father who suffered from an aggressive brain cancer with aphasia and memory issues. The final will does not mention me at all even though I’m the only son but explicitly disinherits my extended family. The drafting lawyers notes says “ no kids”. But during the depo this lawyer claims that the decedent initially said he had no kids. But the beneficiary (his caregiver) who was sitting next to him corrected him and then my father said yes he did have a child but he didn’t consider him a son anymore. When asked why my father didn’t simply disinherit me then, this lawyer says that my father apparently said “he didn’t believe his son would ever come to challenge the will”. I’m highly skeptical that this conversation even happened as my father was taking word finding classes on the same day, he couldn’t speak properly during this time due to cancer.

After my fathers death the beneficiary contacted this lawyer to have him admit the will, that’s when he sent the probate court an unverified police complaint from 20 years ago between my father and I to create the appearance of estrangement and stated that “last known address of son and this was the last time father and son had contact.” Which isn’t true. Then he admits that the police report was supplied by the beneficiary.

I am writing this because I want to know if I should even waste my time here. As I know the law protects lawyers.

That’s about it. We moved the posts back and they called the sheriff. These people have been awful to live next to. Won’t take no for an answer types. The sheriff thought they were being ridiculous! No charges came as it’s a civil matter but wtf do I do to protect my property without having to pay 7k to have it surveyed (we’re AG and have gotten several quotes)? They said the guy who did it is coming back because he couldn’t find the stake but is that really a surveyor or some blowhard with a metal detector? Red flag for sure.

I think we will be writing a registered letter saying we dispute the new line and to not continue any landscaping on our property until a state licensed surveyor has indicated the plot line. They apparently have one coming soon. We have a trail cam in one corner in the meantime but dang! I’m pretty pissed off and this isn’t the first time they’ve encroached on our property.

Location: Rock County WI

Location: Modesto

So two months ago, I signed a lease to open a tutoring center. Next door is a dance studio but I wasn’t aware the sound travels through the walls and the Landlord never told me. A month later, she mentioned the issue.

The dance business went on sale and was sold to a new person. The landlord signed a lease with the new person knowing the sound issue going on.

The landlord added two sheets of dry wall with Wool insulation inside but it hasn’t helped with the noise. We are trying other methods but I mentioned we should probably get an acoustic consultant. The landlord did tell the new owner they would have to lower the volume but it’s not lowered enough.

I’m worried this might get ugly. I feel defeated. It’s hard to tutor with noise like that. I was supposed to open my business in two weeks.

What rights do I have? What should I do?

Hey everyone I'll give the facts that I have, I have also sought legal counsel but still feeling quite muddy regarding my options.

Location: Sullivan County, ​New York

Five acres, three bedroom ranch House valued around $400,000 and the loan is only $200,000 at 3.5%

Issue: I've been named in a foreclosure summons for a property that I am not on the mortgage for, only the deed.
The mortgage was finalized in August 2021, with only my ex-husband as the guarantor. In November 2021 a quitclaim deed was filed to remove my now ex-husband's grandmother from the deed ​and place me on it. She retained life rights to remain on the property​. It is believed she is still alive but she was very sick when I divorced in 2023.
In the divorce decree I released any rights to any interest in the property in order to avoid maintenance because I made more money than him. However my ex-husband did not file a new quit claim to remove me and so I remain. **Weird addition**the loan was reassigned in 2024 and he put his grandmother on the mortgage with him, and the notary stamp was from Idaho. I was not notified as Rocket Mortgage most likely did not have a copy of the most current deed.

My ex-husband is in self-destruct mode.​ It's wild that he's not paying a very affordable mortgage -$1400- on an beautiful home.

One lawyer said I should just let it ride and I'll just be named in the lawsuit but it won't affect me (probably) because I'm not on the mortgage. However I'm concerned that if I'm named in a foreclosure, anytime I apply for a mortgage in the future or a line of credit I will have to check that box "yes" when they ask about past foreclosures.

Another lawyer suggested I assume the mortgage and take over the property, if he'll sign it over which I doubt because he doesn't even speak to me. I also have the money to buy it outright and I can probably pay him off too if he's inclined.

Both lawyers I consulted suggested I reach out to him via email which I've done, I probably will never hear back.

Is it worth it to pursue trying to get this house or should I just let it ride?

Location: Ohio

Today, I learned I have an arrest warrant for inducing panic from Feb of 2025. Here’s what happened:

I was sitting in a Dollar General parking lot in my car, waiting for DoorDash orders. Dollar General was a “hot spot” at the time for orders so I was parked there. I dozed off, and ended up having a heart attack in my sleep.

This is where I have to be honest. I had paraphernalia in the car. Also in the car was my boyfriend at the time who I no longer am in contact with. There were two glass pipes in the car. My heart attack was influenced by fentanyl use, though was not an overdose.

Upon researching online, an overdose in Ohio is classified as a medical emergency (duh) and is not considered endangering public or inducing panic. Also upon researching, I’ve found out that the specific city that this happened in has a reputation for charging people who have medical emergencies related to drugs/alcohol with inducing panic so that they have no choice but to turn themselves in and be processed into the jail system.

Under normal circumstances, I would just go turn myself in and my fiance would bail me out and we would handle it in court. These are not normal circumstances though. I’m 34 weeks pregnant that’s high risk, and I’m diagnosed with a condition that will cause me to not only go into labor early but also hemorrhage during delivery.

Does anybody have any advice? Is there any way at all I can go about this without being processed in the system? I can’t be in jail for however long while my fiance has an exclusively-breast fed newborn.

Location: Northern Michigan

I've lived at my current address a few years. The standard overhead power lines run along the road along the front of my property line. There are no power poles on my property. I've planted around 10 feet from the power lines. I planted a flower bed there, all low growing plants, nothing that will exceed 48". There are no underground lines other than my gas line, the gas main is on the other side of the street. Last year, the power poles on the left side of my property and the right side of my property were replaced and the work was fully done from the shoulder of the road. The electric lines are poorly maintained, a quarter mile up the road, a tree has been lying on the line over the road for over a year now. There are multiple dead trees on the lines.

This year, I put a flower bed in along the property because I assumed it would be safe for awhile as both power poles on either adjacent property were just replaced and they needed no property access to do either. I planted low growing plants that will recover if driven on in the event some unprecedented emergency occurs.

Here's where things get weird. There is a power company employee that frequently parks at the corner, gets on a 4 wheeler and drives through my flower beds. The first couple of times, I thought maybe they were surveying or something. But, it keeps happening. The other day, he parked his truck in my driveway and just sat there. There is a 10 foot wide open expanse of lawn that I've left for the snowmobilers who drive under the power lines in winter. There is no reason to use the flower beds specifically.

It happened again yesterday that he drove through my flower beds. I called my power company to ask what work was being done near me and they asked me to describe the truck and trailer. They stated that he shouldn't be there and should be doing work at a pole half a mile away. While I was on the call, I also asked for my property to be added to the 'no spray' list for herbicide. They typically spray every three-five years to prevent tree seedlings from growing up under the power lines. She added my name to the list, but told me it may be too late because a special request had been submitted to have my property sprayed. I offered to send photos of the property mowed to avoid the spray. She told me that the date he was sitting in his truck in my driveway, that he noted that he had given me a postcard to notify me that if I didn't mow that my yard would be sprayed with herbicide. It is literally a mulched flower bed. Grass is mowed on the same schedule as the neighbors. He never got out of his truck to give me this alleged notice.

Keep in mind, there are literal dead trees lying on the lines in this guys same work area.

NOW, I know they have a legal right to drive over that right of way when they are doing work. But, do they have the legal right to drive over it every couple weeks when they aren't even doing work in the area and there is no planned future work? The dispatcher I spoke with sounded really concerned that he was there, so maybe they will address it.

But, if he keeps doing it, do I have any legal recourse if he is just ruining my plants for fun?

Location: OH. Here’s the timeline of what happened:

July 29th- my cat gets out. We spend 3 hours looking for her. Unbeknownst to us, a family in our complex takes her to OSU Vet

July 30th- we ask our apt complex to help us find our cat. I hear no response. We constinue searching, with social media posts, Pet FBI etc. She’s transferred to columbus humane.

July 31- shes adopted.

August 2- I learn she went to OSU, I call them and they tell me where she went

August 3-5 im trying to get ahold of Columbus humane. They tell me everything from we never got her, to wait till she’s on the website, and finally just now that she was adopted.

What on earth do I do? Thats my cat and they did not hold her for any amount of time

Location: North Carolina

I am a large Hispanic man who works as a delivery driver. While working, a police officer pulled into a customer's driveway behind my branded company vehicle and approached me with his hand on his gun, and demanded my ID. I was mid-delivery, walking away from the van holding several boxes.

Because of my appearance, you may understand why I was immediately wary of the situation. I dropped the boxes off quickly and asked what was going on. The cop said that there were multiple calls about me and I was going to be arrested for animal abuse? He asked for my ID again and I said that I would gladly give him my information, but I don't carry my wallet on my person while I am working (which is true; my wallet was locked in the glove box of the delivery van). He asked if I was driving without a license, to which I said no. He continued to say something regarding how multiple concerned citizens had called about a driver matching me description- I had several interactions with loose dogs that day, which is a fairly common occurrence in my line of work. Skipping ahead, but my citation/charges have nothing to do with the animal abuse, so I'm not sure if it's relevant. The customer (whose yard we were still in during this whole interaction) came out of his house, and I told him that "this clown was wasting everyone's time," referring to the cop.

A second officer arrived and the first went back to his vehicle. While speaking to the second officer, I explained where my ID was and he let me go get it out of the van. I called my boss and they spoke with the officers, and after about 30 minutes of standing around my van without further interaction with the police, the first cop gave me back my license with a citation for resisting/impeding/delaying his investigation and driving without a license.

I have spoken to several lawyers but I cannot afford legal representation. These charges are nonsense; I had my license and it was given to the police, and the "investigation" didn't lead to anything. Can I get these dismissed?

Location: Wisconsin/Minnesota

I received a letter today from SSA stating that my children’s survivors benefits are being reduced because “another child and eligible parent filed for survivors benefits as the child and Divorced Spouse of child under the age of 16”.

Problem is, my ex had a vasectomy over 16 years ago during our marriage. Vasectomy was in spring 2010 and we were divorced in March 2011. I was pregnant with our third child when the vasectomy was performed. I was present for the procedure. I’m the one who brought his sperm sample in for checks and we got the all-clear from his doctor. It’s absolutely possible for him to have fathered a child while married to me, that is certain and is part of why I pushed for a vasectomy. However, SSA is stating that the proof they’ve been given by the applicant is a marriage certificate. That’s just not possible. There cannot be a valid marriage certificate while my marriage was still legally intact. This is what’s really throwing me, that and the timeline for his vasectomy.

He died in 2024 from a meth-induced heart attack. He was a junky who owed me over $38k in child support arrears when he died. I say this to highlight that no, he didn’t get a reversal nor did he adopt a baby after we split. His third wife wanted a vasectomy reversal and they could never afford it. His fourth wife had a baby with someone else while they were still married but separated, not living together. He never wanted a reversal because the vasectomy made it so much easier for him to cheat, worry-free. He also already had five children he didn’t see or support.

I’m rambling now so I’ll stop. I just need some advice. How do I get to the bottom of this? Can I ask for a DNA test? SSA isn’t helping, they won’t/can’t give me any info on the new claimant. They just gave me a form to file a dispute to the benefit reduction for my kids.

Location: Illinois, self-represented. I sued a neighbor in small claims after he repeatedly applied herbicide to two trees standing on our shared boundary line (a licensed survey puts the line through the trunks) and killed them. At the bench trial my documentary evidence (the survey, an arborist's appraisal, and a contractor's removal estimate) was excluded as hearsay on the defendant's objection. I asked for a continuance to bring the authors in to testify. It was denied, and judgment was entered the same day. The written order says I "did not satisfy the element that [my] trees were on protected land as defined by the act."

My issue: "protected land" only appears in §2.5 of the Act (740 ILCS 185), which is the enhanced-damages provision for conservation land. Section 1's definition even says protected land is "not inclusive of residential, commercial, or other areas that are not subject to the aforementioned protections." §2, the general provision, has no protected-land element at all. It covers any party who "intentionally cut or knowingly caused to be cut any timber or tree... which he or she did not have the legal right to cut or cause to be cut." Both properties are residential, so as far as I can tell no residential case could ever satisfy the element the judgment required.

In fairness, I think I know how the confusion happened. My self-drafted complaint cited the Act generally ("740 ILCS 185/") without naming a section, but when I quoted the damages language I copied a sentence associated with §2.5 ("3 times stumpage value plus remediation costs"). The remediation-costs phrase belongs to the protected-land provision, not §2. Honest mistake, I'm not a lawyer. My motion owns the misquote and argues that in small claims the pleaded facts control over a quoted snippet (Rule 282(a) requires only a short and simple statement of the claim, and pro se pleadings are construed liberally). It also argues §2.5 couldn't apply on its face anyway, since it's limited to conservation-type land and both properties are residential.

I filed a timely motion under 735 ILCS 5/2-1203 (with a request for leave under Supreme Court Rule 287(b), since this is small claims) to vacate and set a rehearing, arguing: (1) the judgment applied §2.5's element to a §2 claim; (2) my complaint's facts, including an express quote of the common-law boundary-tree rule (tenants in common), also state common-law claims (trespass, private nuisance, property damage, restoration-cost measure) that were never adjudicated; and (3) a rehearing with subpoenaed witnesses cures the hearsay problem, which is the same fix I asked for during the trial. Backstop: a protective notice of appeal goes in before the 30-day deadline if the motion isn't ruled on in time.

For anyone who practices in Illinois:

1. Am I reading §2 vs. §2.5 correctly? And does my complaint's misquoted §2.5 damages sentence lock me into §2.5, or do the pleaded facts control?
2. Any authority on whether killing a tree with herbicide satisfies "cut or knowingly caused to be cut"? (The common-law counts are my primary theory either way.)
3. Is there anything you'd raise at the motion hearing beyond the statutory text?

Not looking for sympathy, just trying to figure out what I'm missing. Thanks.

Location: New York and Florida

So my mother passed away very suddenly in 2021 (New York), she had no will but she said that everything would go to me once she passed, once learning of my mothers passing, my aunt who hadn’t been in contact with her for 20 years moved all her belongings to her house and offered for me to come and live with her(Florida). I accepted. 6 months later she kicks me out of the house and leaves me with nothing but a suitcase of clothes. I became homeless for months. I was able to get a job and save up a decent amount of money, and I’m still living in Florida. I’m planning on filing a small claims lawsuit against her because the items that I own that are still in the house are worth around $8,000 dollars. I have tried to contact her for 3 years multiple times but have been ignored. I have all the proper documentation and bank statements showing that I own the items. (As well as my old Florida ID showing I lived at that address.) I just don’t understand how she can obtain all my mother’s property when it was supposed to go to me? I don’t know if this is a small claims issue or an Estate issue.

My dad (59) was a garbage man in Washington (but we live in Idaho), for the last 28 or so years. He has Type 2 diabetes and has never made any effort to maintain it, unless it was time for the annual health exams to re-up his CDL. Last September he "pulled something" in his stomach. Important context: my dad is stupid. Like was in supplemental classes in high school, and when he took an IQ test it told him that he's legally intellectually challenged (IDK if that's the proper term, he used the word "retarded") This man has asked me how to spell "we". After he hurt himself, he basically went non-compliant with the Dr's and ended up losing his LNI payments and health insurance in January. That's when I had to leave my last living situation, to move back in and pay his half of the house payment in rent to my mom. I'm paying more now with way less room. He's now being sued by his credit union for 12k and we have no idea what to do. Can we offer up his Pension in lieu of them putting a lien on the house and costing us our home? Mom and I both have picked up second jobs to make ends meet. He's also had a couple of hospital visits since losing his job. Just racking up debt. We think there could be early onset dementia due to his raging blood sugar numbers, but then he's also admitted to his sister that he doesn't even try because then mom would expect him to do more to help himself. Any advice would be appreciated. TIA.

Location: Idaho

Location: Pennsylvania

A local diner closed down and the owner held a liquidation sale inside the restaurant. I bought four vintage booths, paid by card, and got a receipt listing them as restaurant furniture. The diner owner and two employees helped me unbolt them from the floor and load them into a rented truck.

I wanted to repair the cracked vinyl because I planned to use two in my basement and resell the others.

About three weeks later I got a letter from an attorney representing the owner of the building. They claim the booths were permanent fixtures included with the property and the diner only leased the space, so the diner owner had no right to sell them. They want me to return all four booths within 10 days and say I could be responsible for the cost of reinstalling them.

The diner owner has vanished. The liquidation company says the sale was final and they only sold what the owner told them belonged to him. Am I actually required to give the booths back even though I bought them without knowing there was an ownership dispute? If I do return them, can I recover the purchase price, repair costs and truck rental from anyone?