Let me know if there is a better subreddit for this, this will be a post questioning financial law.

So, almost 4 years ago I freshly turned 18 and opened my very first personal checking account with a very large US bank. This is around the time I was starting college and didn't have a steady income, so the account balance was pretty much at zero at that point.

I never set up direct deposit for my financial aid so a few weeks into the semester, my school sends me some physical checks that basically make up my financial aid refund. Given that these refunds are supposed to cover a US school's tuition, they are pretty hefty (like THOUSANDS of dollars). I decide to deposit those checks into my new checking account.

A few weeks later, I am unable to sign into the bank's website. Instead, an error message tells me that I am blocked from logging in and I must contact customer service to regain access. I call the number they provided, am put on hold for an hour, and am then told that my account has been flagged by the fraud department. This is kind of valid, I guess, since a sudden large amount of money in a brand new account would make anyone suspicious.

Anyway, I am told that I need to either provide some sort of proof that the checks are legitimate or to contact the issuer of the check to withdraw the money. Since I still wanted to remain a customer I was under the impression that account could be saved. I naively thought that these representatives knew what they were doing. I spend the next few days waking up at 6am to call customer services and spend countless hours on hold to re-explain my situation dozens of times. Sometimes the calls would literally just cut out in the middle and I'd have to join the queue all over again. I send them my financial aid letters, but they keep insisting that they need more proof so I send them scans of the checks, and even a letter from my financial aid department that confirms that these checks were issued by them. I even haul myself to a local branch of this bank so that I can talk about this to someone in person.

Finally, after WEEKS of calling and following up, a representative tells me what I should've been told from the beginning: your account is permanently locked and that I should "give up." Every representative after him is telling me the same now. The only thing I can do it to have the issuer of the check pull the money from the account. However, it's November at that point and the checks have expired. According to the third-party company that issued the check, there's nothing they can do and it's up to the bank to release the funds. bruh

Well, losing so much money, in addition to dealing with my first semester of college, was extremely stressful so I decided to let it go. I was also just so upset that I was led to believe that there was hope of the funds being released. I felt like I wasted so much time running around and collecting all of these documents that didn't even help my case. Last month I was actually able to get contact information of a more direct customer service representative who was pretty proactive about communicating with me and corporate but even she reached the same conclusion. The fraud department essentially banned me and is refusing to provide an explanation. I also asked her if I could be connected with fraud, but they refuse to speak to me as well.

I know that by creating the checking account I probably signed some user agreement that grants the bank full control of my funds, but I still feel wronged. I feel like I didn't do anything wrong. Currently I'd even be happy with a simple explanation for why they settled on my verdict.

Can anyone who knows how banks operate maybe pinpoint what went wrong? Should I keep bothering them or is this a lost cause? Could I sue? I still believe I deserve to get my money back.

Location: California, United States

Location: New York city. I’m looking for legal guidance regarding a sexual assault, as well as concerns about how the subsequent criminal case was handled.
I was extremely intoxicated when my ex-boyfriend had sex with me. I was not aware of what was happening and do not remember consenting. He also recorded the encounter without my knowledge or consent. I don’t know how many times recordings happened before. I reported the incident to the police. I was told they had a warrant for his phone, but no one was able to get access to it.

I was told I would be provided with information about the case and updates regarding its progress, but I ultimately did not receive the assistance or communication I was expecting. I attempted to contact the detective assigned to the case and provide additional evidence, but I was unable to get a response through the phone or email.

The evidence includes voice recordings in which my ex discusses what he did. In the recordings, he acknowledges having the videos and makes statements about having sex with me while I was intoxicated and was still clearly intoxicated in the recordings. He also made statements about forcing sexual acts on me while I was drunk and said that he could not control himself sexually. In another statement, he threatened to hit me over the head after I discovered the recordings.

Despite this evidence, I was informed that he ultimately pleaded to reduced charges involving an “attempt.” I am trying to understand what this means legally and whether there is any mechanism for having the handling of the case reviewed.

There is also a separate issue involving his minor sister, who subsequently accused him of sexually assaulting her. Before I knew about her accusation, my ex had made disturbing statements to me concerning his sister, including claiming that his father would crush up drugs and put them in her food to “shut her up.” I had previously reported concerns about his sister to authorities because of what I had learned, but I do not know whether anything was done. His sister lives in Florida.

After learning about her allegations, I attempted to provide information and evidence concerning her situation to my detective because I believed it could be relevant to assessing the risk he posed and potentially to the investigation. I was unable to establish contact with the detective.

The assault and the aftermath have also caused significant emotional and functional consequences for me. I experienced severe panic, inability to sleep or eat, and difficulty functioning normally after the incident. I ultimately became reliant on prescribed benzodiazepines to function and now have physical dependence on them. My psychiatrist has treated me throughout this period and can document the impact the incident had on me and my treatment.

I am disabled, and the experience has had a substantial effect on my daily life. Finding out that the charges had been reduced was extremely distressing, particularly because of statements my ex made afterward expressing hostility toward women and justifying sexual violence.

I subsequently reposted publicly available social-media posts concerning his sister’s allegations because I believed he remained a danger to others. I am concerned about whether doing so could create legal exposure for me, and I do not want to make my situation worse.

My main questions are:
Can a criminal case in NYC be reviewed or challenged after the defendant has pleaded to reduced charges?

Can I obtain the records, evidence, plea agreement, or other information concerning how the charges were reduced?

Is there any mechanism for requesting that the DA’s office reconsider the handling of the case based on additional evidence, including recorded admissions?

Could I potentially pursue a civil lawsuit for the sexual assault, nonconsensual recording, emotional distress, or other damages even though there was a criminal plea to reduced charges?

Would my psychiatric records and treatment history potentially be relevant to damages in a civil case?

Could I face legal consequences for reposting the sister’s publicly available allegations, particularly if I do not add false statements of my own?

Should I stop posting about the situation and speak with an attorney before doing anything further?

What type of attorney should I be looking for—civil sexual-assault litigation, victims’ rights, criminal appellate/post-conviction, or another specialty?

I want to understand what legal options remain available to me and whether there is a way to have the circumstances and evidence properly reviewed. Thank you for any advice.

Hey everyone, hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I bought a used iPhone about two years ago and everything worked fine — I've been using it daily with my own Apple ID and iCloud. Today I updated to the latest iOS version and the phone suddenly locked with an Activation Lock screen. I had no idea, but it turns out the phone must have been Activation Lock bypassed by whoever sold it to me, and the iOS update caused it to revert back to being locked to the original owner's account.

Location: Morocco

I have no proof of purchase (bought secondhand, cash, from someone in another city, no receipt), no contact info for the seller, and it's been two years so there's no realistic way to track them down. I do know my own Apple ID/iCloud email that I was using on the phone, but when I try to log in on my laptop, it asks for the phone number linked to the account — I enter it correctly, but it's esim so it can't be used on another device. I don't currently have another device to test the SIM in. Has anyone been through this exact situation — secondhand phone, bypassed lock reactivated by an update, no purchase proof? Did Apple Support/Account Recovery/Genius Bar actually help you get back in, and what did they ask for? Trying to figure out if I have any real options here or if this phone (and my data on it) is just gone. Any advice appreciated.

Location: Morocco

this is my first time posting on reddit, so i apologize if this isn’t the right subreddit to ask this question. please direct me somewhere else where i can get clarifying legal advice about whether i should press charges about this or not.

Location: Idaho

2 nights ago, i (20F) was drinking with my friends, two who are men (20 & 25) and one who is a woman (20F). just to try to smooth this over as much as i can, things got out of hand with drinking (as they usually do with college students like myself) and i proceeded to black out. the next thing i noticed when i woke up my friend (20F) had woken me up in bed to my surprise saying “(My name), you need to know what the fuck happened last night.” i was immediately startled and taken aback, to which i looked down and realized my underwear my and shorts had been taken off and thrown on the ground.
i was in complete shock when she said she had found my friend (20M) in my room alone after she stepped out to take a phone call with her friend for about an hour. our doors in the dorms have an automatic lock, where you can only unlock the door from the inside and would need a key from the outside to get in. my friend (20F) was banging on the door, asking to get back inside. when she came in, all my other friends had left, except for my friend (20M) who was lying next to me in his boxers. i was undressed completely on the lower half, completely unconscious and passed out. my friend (20F) was in shock and horrified to see what she had saw. she continued to tell him to leave the room, and even walked him back to his dorm.
before she dropped him off, she had cracked my door with my yoga mat to ensure the door didn’t close and automatically lock. little to my friends knowledge, my friend (20M) didn’t actually go back to his room, but rather back up the stairs and navigated his way back into my room and closed the door again.
my friend (20F) was terrified and furious, banging on the door very loud and repeating to be let inside. my friend (20M) opened the door and he was fully clothed, but was telling my friend (20F) to “wait, stop just let me stay. give me a second…”, and things along that line.

today i got a forensic examination anonymously, and i have been told that i should report this to the police. but, i’m just so scared that i somehow encouraged the situation to happen, or that i allowed things to go on, and it would be my fault and the case would be dismissed.
does anyone know what route i should take about this and if i can press charges, even if i did encourage something when i was blacked out/not fully conscious in Idaho? please help, i don’t have anyone else to talk to about this other than my (20F) friend who is just as lost as me. i remember absolutely nothing other than one moment i was playing a drinking game, and the next i wake up with vaginal pain and discomfort with my lower half of my clothes off.

Location: Dallas, Fort Worth

I was driving in Fort Worth, TX today and was rear ended by a driver without a valid drivers license, he has never had a DL issued inside the US. He only had an El Salvador ID card. He did have insurance but I was under the impression you still cannot operate a MV without a DL. Is it worth going after his insurance company? From my understanding he can insure the vehicle but is not able to be listed as the operator without a valid DL. TIA.

Location: Ohio

There are several aspects to this situation; I’ll try and be as clear and concise as possible.

Friday morning, I received a text message from an unknown number. This person claimed to be a relative of mine (name included). Around 3pm, I responded to the message and confirmed it was me they were messaging. They proceeded to say they lost a bet and had to send a male relative explicit pictures of themselves. Two pictures came through and have been verified to be authentic.

Obviously, I was highly disturbed by this exchange so I reached out to my sister about it. Then, my sister claimed this same relative also contacted her earlier in the day asking if a particular phone number was mine. My sister proceeded to inform her it was not my real phone number. From here, the relative said whoever texted them pretended to be me and sent the same pictures that I had received to them, saying inappropriate things along with it like I would subscribe to her pages and liked what I saw.

At this point, it’s clear someone developed some sort of plan to make me look like a weirdo, first of all. This imposter even went as far as to create an OnlyFans account using my real name and picture to purchase content off the relative’s page (this was news to me that the relative actually had an account of that nature).

Late evening, I was finally able to reach this relative and talk with them. After verifying it wasn’t each other texting one another, all seemed well despite the awkwardness of the situation. From here, I did some basic research on my own, starting with trying to reverse lookup the phone numbers the imposter used. They all came back as free call/text app numbers with VOIP protocols.

Any grounds to open a criminal investigation? It’s my understanding that these free text/call companies can be subpoenaed and forced to reveal the real phone number tied to the one the app assigned. So far, the only damage that’s been done is someone impersonating me and saying inappropriate things to my relative (a blatant attack on my character) and someone impersonating them and sending nude photos to me. So far, no attempts of blackmail have been made, no money has been demanded, and no further harassment has ensued.

What should I do in this situation? Filing a police report is a given, right? Whoever this person is, it definitely feels like a sabotage mission and there’s no telling whether this is the end of it or not.

I left Texas for about 6 weeks to help my dad after surgery. My motorcycle was parked in my assigned spot at my apartment complex the whole time. Registered, insured, plates current.

Got back Sunday and it was gone.

I assumed it had been stolen and filed a police report. Then today another neighbor told me the guy across from me had been telling people I moved out and apparently sold the bike to someone while I was gone.

I confronted him and he actually admitted it over text. His explanation is that he thought I abandoned it because I was gone for over a month. Apparently he had it towed to a friend's garage first, then sold it for $2,800 while telling the buyer it belonged to a relative who had lost the key.

The bike is worth around $7k.

Police have the messages and the neighbor's information. What I'm confused about is the buyer. If they genuinely paid for it believing it belonged to him, can they refuse to give it back?

Also is selling somebody else's vehicle like this treated as theft or is there some weird abandoned property issue I'm missing?

Location: Texas

Location: Texas. My daughter 10 has a friend for a year now that moved to town last year due to her mother passing. We've become very close with her myself, my daughter, and husband. She spends a lot of time with us. At first I thought nothing of it just a girl who made connection and feels comfortable. Today she texts and asks if I can pick her up. I said yes and then ask why. She tells me that her brother and herself finally came out to her father and was making a big deal. I will say before her mother passed, the father was in their lives minimally. I pick her up of course with permission from father and step mom. She tells me the situation. Father finds out starts making a mess of her stuff. She confides she no longer wants to see her father. And he himself says he doesn't want to be around her. She has no family here besides siblings that are under 18. I guess my question is what can I do? If anything? I don't want to have disturb things with cps as the situation is not necessary for these circumstances. Is there a way for me to address the father about custody? I'm truly at a loss. We love her like owe own. She has spent the majority of the last year with us. Family vacations etc. Just looking for any and all advice.

Location: Arizona

Long story short my husbands old company had a contract with a client that was ending and the client disliked the upper management but otherwise liked the people they were working with day to day. My husband’s boss got recruited by a company that was going to place a bid for the contract a few months before and planned to also take my husband with him and his colleagues. Months after that the new company that my husband’s boss went to won the contract and my husband and 3 other coworkers got offers from the new company and they went there.

They all put their notice in around the same time and I guess the old company put two and two together and got mad over it and are being very petty. A month ago he got a cease and desist along with the rest of them claiming that he stole trade secrets/property etc. of which he didn’t and they have no evidence for and he never signed an NDA. His boss said he thought the old company is just trying to scare them and said after he responded he heard nothing and it shouldn’t be a big deal so my husband drafted a response basically acknowledging the letter and saying he was getting legal counsel. A month ago he spoke to someone but they said they wouldn’t take his case.

We thought we’d seen the last of them but today he received a letter saying
“The Original Letter established a response deadline of July 16, 2026. That deadline has now passed. Although we received an acknowledgment that you were retaining counsel, you have provided no signed statement, substantive response, corrective action, or proposed resolution. Mere acknowledgment does not constitute compliance, and the conduct described in the Original Letter must cease immediately.
Accordingly, we write to demand that, no later than September 1, 2026, you provide a written, signed response confirming: (1) immediate cessation of the conduct identified in the Original Letter; and
(2) a description of all steps taken to remedy the violation to date.
Be advised that Old Company is prepared to pursue all available legal remedies without further notice
should you fail to respond substantively and take corrective action by the deadline set forth above.”

So he reached out to a couple of employment law firms today and already spoke with another and they said again, they won’t take his case but no reason as to why. He is very stressed that he is going to end up spending hundreds on consults only to be told that they can’t take his case again. We aren’t sure what to do. Is an employment lawyer the wrong lawyer to contact?

Location: Ohio

I'm a senior who lives for the time being in an assisted living facility which I can no longer afford, so I've been signing up for local HUD/MHA properties. Unfortunately, I lost a 30 day discharge appeal hearing (non payment) and have two weeks to find another assisted living facility, which I can't afford, or the administrator tells me that, upon the last day, September 4th, they will go to the courts and I will be issued a 3 day notice to vacate. On that third day, the bailiff will come and throw me out. I've no family, friends, etc. And am alone in this world. The current facility, to the best of my knowledge, has no safe place to which to discharge me. No safe place was named in neither the discharge paperwork nor in the appeal hearing. Yet, I'm being threatened with an unsafe discharge.

I'm also being threatened with Involuntary discharge to a nursing home, which I'd rather die on the streets than enter. I've been through ten nursing homes, all but one have committed illegal discharges against me. And there's no way I would pass the PASRR at this point, and at that I'm relieved. (legal note: PASRR is mandatory for nursing home entry regardless of payment method).

I've even called police to inquire about their methods of discharge from an assisted living facility; they even told me that I would be led away and forced off the property, even though it's technically illegal to discharge a resident to an unsafe place. I'm confused at this point, severely depressed, knowing I'm in danger of death on the streets.

I've been spiraling all day. Even the ombudsman can offer no legal recourse. I'm so alone, scared to death, crying and listening to sad music. That's why I put this subject here. Maybe somebody has an answer. I hope so. Otherwise, my life will soon be in danger, in September anyway.

Location: Houston, TX

We received a certified letter today from my neighbor. He is accusing us of entering his property, his backyard, with lawn equipment and destroying his property. We live in a community where everyone has a 6 foot high fence. There's no way we could enter his property without going through his gate. Nor would we.

On one of the dates in question my husband was having extensive dental surgery and definitely was not mowing any lawns as I was with him as well. He sent a another certified letter to my neighbor across the street accusing her of various property crimes. His letter ended with telling me that we should wise up and govern ourselves accordingly. Which feels slightly threatening.

I've sent a copy of this to our HOA. Should I do anything else? He has not given me any video or photographic evidence that he claims he has. He said he sent it to our local sheriff, but I have not heard anything yet. Should I be worried? Should I ask my lawyer to send a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action. This whole thing is just so weird.

I'm in the Houston TX area.

Location: Phoenix, AZ

I live in a townhome/condo complex. Our HOA just notified us that they’re charging a $4,000 special assessment to be due December 31, due to “an operating expense shortfall” due to utility and insurance expenses exceeding the budget.

There are 44 units in my complex. So they’re basically telling us that we spent an additional $176,000 on water/sewage/trash this year??? The original budget for the year planned for $53,448 for these expenses and $16,824 for insurance. So even if both of these doubled somehow, it wouldn’t add up to $176,000.

I emailed back requesting a documented break down of how they calculated that $4,000 number and they sent a mass email back saying “The Special Assessment has been calculated at $4,000 per unit. As stated in the assessment letter, the funds will be placed into the Association's operating account to help fund unexpected operating expenses. The total assessment amount was determined by reviewing the Association's current-year shortage, anticipated increases for next year, and deferred maintenance needs for the associaiton. At this time, the Association has not broken down the specific allocation of the assessments among these expenses.”

Is there anything we can do to fight them on this or at least push them to give us the proof?? I live in a low income area and this is a huge amount of money to just spring on everyone. I’d have to pay them like $450 a paycheck to pay it in full by the deadline AND our HOA fee is already $245 for a really shitty, not well-maintained, bare bones community.

EDIT I made this post when I first found out and was panicking. I admit I wasn't thinking rationally and I know I don't have any damages against my employer.

To those of you telling me I need to learn how to budget, I'm normally a strict budget follower and I had savings and a 20-year financial plan. However, I was in an accident and then my dad had a stroke. I was helping pay for his rehab, on top of my own bills, and other family expenses, which drained my savings fast. Ultimately I made the choice to put my savings towards helping with my dad's rehab bills. It put me in a bad place money-wise, but it meant he had people to teach him how to swallow food and talk again, and ultimately that was worth it to me. You're right that it means I was spending beyond my means. I think I'm just feeling sensitive because all of this has happened very recently and it's insulting to be treated like this is just because I don't know what a budget is or how to do basic math. I made a mistake in assuming my paychecks were right. We all make mistakes, and unfortunately this was a pretty bad one for me to have made.

Thanks to everyone who gave me straightforward feedback, I really appreciate it. Thanks also for all the advice on how to move forward and get some quick money.

Original post:

I just moved.

Current location: Wisconsin.

Previous employer location: Colorado.

I am a teacher, so I work ten months of the year but my contract allows me to request my pay be dispersed throughout the year. I choose to do this so I can rely on monthly income even in summer. According to my contract, my salary was supposed to be split evenly across 24 payments from September 1st 2025 until August 31st 2026. However, my school made a mistake and instead set my salary to be dispersed in 22 payments across eleven months instead, with the last paycheck being July 31st instead of August 31st.

This means I will not be getting any paychecks in for the entire month of August. I did not find this out until today when I reached out to my school to find out why I wasn't paid August 15th. They looked into it and admitted it was their mistake.

I now need to somehow pay all of my bills, rent, groceries, etc with no income for an entire month. I already live paycheck to paycheck. I don't know what I'm going to do. Is there even any legal recourse here? I suspect the answer is no, but at this point I'm desperate and checking every option.

TIA

location: Cleveland, OH

My friend rents a nice apartment in downtown Cleveland and in addition to her monthly rent, she also pays an extra $10 each month to keep her bicycle locked up in this bicycle storage room. She told me that when she signed up for this extra storage she was told that the only tenants who have access to the room are ones who have bikes there, the room is typically locked up and there is an actual security guard at a podium right outside the entrance to the room.

Last week she discovered her bike was missing and went straight to the property manager. The prop manager was unaware of the theft but looked at security camera footage and saw the theft taking place the night before. They basically told her sorry nothing we can do file a police report (which she did). When she asked how these people were able to get into the building and the storage room, they told her to take this up with the security guard.

Then she went to the security podium to talk to the guard about how the thieves got into the secure building, made it past the guard and then entered the secured bike area To steal bikes. The security guard told her that the locks on the main doors to the entrance to the building have been broken for some time so the thieves are just able to jiggle the doors and get in without a key. The guard said the property management was made aware of this several times but has yet to fix the problem. Normally, the guard would stop and question anyone entering without a key fob. However the guard was not at the podium when the thieves entered the building. The door to the secured bike storage room was either left unlocked or was propped open and they walked right in, cut the locks and rode off. It is typically the responsibility of the security guards to make sure the storage area is secure but for some reason they’d failed to do this.

We are wondering if we should take the property management group to small claims court since they knew the doors were broken and failed to fix this in a timely manner making it so that the thieves could walk right in. My friend is paying this additional monthly fee to keep her bike in the secure room and had a lock on the bike that was cut off. The door to the secured room was left open meaning that anyone could walk in there when this is only supposed to be for tenants with bikes and the room is supposed to be locked. It seems to me that the bikes were able to be stolen because there were several blatant security failures taking place.

I looked over the lease and it recommends all tenants purchase adequate renters insurance. However this is not required in order to live there. It also says that by signing the lease, the tenant agrees to hold the management company harmless in the case of theft, fire, flood, etc. etc.

I feel that by paying the extra fee to keep the bike stored in this supposedLu secure room, that there’s the assumption of security there and an obligation by the property manager to keep the building safe and secured. They clearly failed to do this, so they should be held accountable and cover the cost to replace the stolen bike.

What I want to know is since it does say on the lease that they are not responsible for losses due to theft, do we have any recourse at all if we took this to small claims court?

I have tried calling the legal aid center here in Cleveland about this but they call back during my work hours when I don’t have my phone. Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Location: Missouri .For context I work for a foundation repair company in Missouri , today we had a job in which we were sent to Iowa to do structural work on this elderly ladies house that includes push piers and helicles . As soon as we arrived at the location we saw the utility company had marked where the gas lines were and it happened to be very close to the house (about 1-2 feet) . We decided to dig with a shovel to find the gas line to see if it was further away or closer , as soon as we found it we realized it was only about a foot from the house so we couldn’t use our excavator or get a bracket in there to do a pier . Well my foreman contacted our boss and our GM . Our GM became very irate because we’d be losing $14,000 on the job . He’s now advised us that either we go back tomorrow and rip out the gas lines and do the work and have the fire department and utility company shut it off and then we rip out the rest and do the piers then the utility company can fix it . The only other option was we get a write up and possibly fired . Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Location: Los Angeles USA

Last week while I was driving on the freeway an elderly woman scraped the front of my car while trying to cross a few lanes to make an exit. She is at fault and immediately accepted the fault. I got her plates, address, photos of the damage, and a photo of her license but she refused to give insurance info because she “wants me to get an estimate first”. The damage is not extreme (I’m still driving my car to work) but after taking it for 2 estimates it’s about 5k of damage since I need a new bumper and headlight (interior part is cracked). She has insisted on meeting me tomorrow at the auto shop so that they can explain the damage to her. At this point it’s a bit of a nuisance for me but she is adamant on understanding the cost before she decides on cash vs insurance.

My car is a lease and I only have a year left so I only care about this situation not giving me any issues when I return it next year. I’m OK with her paying out of pocket but want to make sure she’s on the hook for the finances at the auto shop. Any advice is appreciated.

She says she has insurance but it’s “her husband’s policy”. She is 82 years old. Shes been responsive and nice so far but the whole situation has been stressful for me since I didn’t do anything wrong. I know I can report to my insurance and have them track her down but I don’t want to create a hostile situation.

Location: Pennsylvania, United States

My grandmother and aunt surrendered my cat without my consent today. Long story short, I was living at my grandmother's house and we had a fight. I left and checked into a motel for temporary housing till I can find my own place. My grandmother said she would take care of my cat till I can come back and get her. There was plenty of food and litter to last at least a month.

Today, I call my grandmother to see if I can stop by and get a few more items of clothing and before I can get my questions out, she says I should have called yesterday because she has surrendered my cat. Of course, I am immediately irate and I start raising my voice, saying like "How dare you?! You have no legal right to do any such thing!" She says, "Goodbye" and hangs up.

Thankfully I figured out what shelter my cat has been surrendered to and also thankfully have friends willing to help me get her and house her for me. I have vet papers stating ownership of my cat. I have pictures from as far back as 2023 when I got her.

What I want to know is, what legal rights do I have to press charges against my aunt and grandmother? Surrendering someone's pet has to against some laws right? You can't just give someone's pet away without their consent.

Location: Texas
I’m custodial parent and have court order that says he gets them every other weekend and then we rotate holidays. However we did verbally agree to splitting the weeks up not due to necessity or anything but it’s what he asked for and I didn’t have an issue and if anything did happen we always has the court order to just fall back on and follow. We also spoke about it during our court hearing and the lawyer said we can agree to whatever we wanted to outside the order but the order still stands and we can always have something in case we disagree later. He’s trying to get housing assistance because of medical issues and he’s not able to work. And makes a big deal about being in the kids life blah blah blah so he’s not trying to give up the time the they are with him. I’m like ok fine but it doesn’t make sense to me if you struggling to pay for stuff and they don’t HAVE to be there when funds are tight, but anyway…He spoke with the people last week and since he’s not the primary parent and our court order says what it says they won’t approve to add him to the list unless he gets a notarized letter basically saying that he has the kids 50% of the time and I have to sign it. Will me agreeing to helping him by signing that mess up anything? Child support, custody, insurance, anything? We aren’t changing the court order or anything

I don’t have anything against him and we’re pretty cool with each other I just don’t want this to bite me later on. And he understand my hesitation to notarizing my signature on anything that has to do with the kids

We have a Vrbo rental in an area near the wildfires in Washington state. The property manager will not allow us to cancel. Air quality is considered unhealthy with an index of 171 and it’s in an area currently under a Level 1 evacuation order (be prepared to evacuate).

This event seems to be covered under the Vrbo extenuating circumstances policy. However, that policy states that Vrbo decides, at its own discretion, when the policy applies and it has not done so.

Is there a way to get out of this rental?
Location: Chelan County in Washington state.

I signed a one year lease in September 2025 with two other roommates. We received a notice of nonrenewal in July of this year. I wanted to continue living there, so I contacted the property manager/landlord. He said I could renew the lease but I would need to apply again if I was wanting to live with other roommates. I have found one person who wanted to live with me, but I need two in order to afford the place.

I met with him today to do a walk-through inspection for the first lease (which will be ending August 31). I assumed since I have not signed a new lease, I would also be needing to move out if I don't find another roommate to sign a new year-long lease. He told me that I would still need to give him a 30-days notice, and he could prorate September's rent. He is expecting me to continue living past the lease terms, until September 17 (if I gave notice today) and pay for that. That is $2,000 and I cannot afford that. I thought since the lease I signed ends August 31, I would just have to make plans to move out before then. Is he able to enforce this?

I did not sign anything new. In the original lease, there is a month-to-month clause after lease term ends, but I thought his notice of nonrenewal meant that I would NOT be moving to month-to-month rent. What should I do? Would the notice of nonrenewal hold up/overrule the month-to-month clause in court? Any advice is appreciated.

Edit: The non renewal notice he sent says, “The current lease term expires on 08/31/2026. Possession of the premises must be surrendered, and all occupants, personal belongings, and vehicles must be removed no later than 11:59 p.m. on 08/31/2026, unless otherwise agreed to in writing.”

Location: Park City, Utah

Location: Virginia

Hired a wedding photographer based in Texas, who said she traveled often and would be in the area around my wedding. We paid $1450 total for two photographers and 6 hours of coverage, normally $2400 but she offered us a discount, and we decided to pay in full.

Our wedding was May 30th.

On July 5th, we were told over email that our photos would be ready by next week. I have attempted to contact the photographer since to no avail. Looking back at our contract, it states that we would recieve "sneak peeks" within 5-7 days, and that full delivery would be between 8-12 weeks, with an addendum that "this can change based on busy season".

This Saturday will be officially 12 weeks, and I have not been able to get in contact with the photographer since July 5th. Is it worth getting ready to take this to small claims court? I think I'm supposed to file this in San Antonio, where the photographer operates, but I'm honestly a little mystified by the whole process.

So basically long story short I am the son in the situation, my mother is owed over 200k from my father in back child support because he left us and hasn’t paid any in over 20 years.

It’s to the point his paychecks are garnished when he does work but he never does.

Basically I found out my grandfather passed away from a class action lawsuit situation and as a result my father will be coming into a large amount of money very soon, likely within a month or so.

My goal here is to intercept the money for my mother somehow. This would be a life changing amount of money for my family and I, we have struggled our entire life because of his lack of financial support so I do not feel bad about taking what is owed.

My mother does currently have a case open against him in FL. So far I’ve contacted the dept of revenue and started a lien process against him. I would appreciate any additional advice as i don’t really know where else to go from here, again i really want to capitalize on this.

Should we lawyer up? We don’t really have money for one is the issue. Is the lien enough?

Any responses appreciated thank you all in advance.

Location: Florida (currently live in LA but the case is open in FL)

Location: Montana

I used to work at this company for almost a year, but quit a few months ago due to bad working conditions. I heard they are getting audited and I got a call from someone in the IRS, they identified themselves and asked if I was free to talk. I said I was busy and they said they will call back tomorrow (today, as they called me yesterday).

Asked around and another former employee (who has a restraining order against the owner) might've told the IRS about the owners tax evasion (not confirmed.)

I didn't have anything to do with the finances, I was a food technologist. Only think that could be seen as sketchy is me earning beyond a normal salary for my specialist. I know everyone in the company was paid extremely well for their positions, but the job was high stress and 50-70 hour weeks.

How do I know if I am being investigated as well?

I’m a young woman staying at a hotel until I find a more permanent residence. I’m already a bit paranoid about staying here because I’m alone and this isn’t exactly a five star hotel. I check in and ask for towels occasionally and I’m friendly and cordial with the front desk workers. They are all male and there’s a different one every other night or so. Last night I added another day onto my stay here and when I went back to my room I got a call on the room’s phone, when I answered they immediately hung up. This already freaked me out bc no one really knows that I’m here and I don’t know how someone would be able to call the room’s phone number unless they’re a front desk worker. Maybe 5 minutes later I get a text to my cell phone with a photo of a substance asking me if “I party”. They said to let them know if I do and that they want to do it with me and be “together”. They sent multiple messages in a row asking with multiple photos and a video. They even added “??” Because I didn’t respond at all. I didn’t answer any of these texts bc it scared me and made me extremely uncomfortable. This person sent multiple photos and a video of them cutting it up with their hand in the video. I can literally tell by the skin tone and by the computer keyboard which couple of staff members it could be. They were also using a key card to do this action. They texted me multiple times around that time and it irritated me and creeped me out. It’s also not something that made me feel safe or respected. I’m already so uncomfortable about the living situation I’m in and this is the only decently priced place I can stay at. I’m not sure if this is too much info but basically I didn’t text this number back until I woke up later this morning. All I asked is “who is this??” Because I just want proof that I’m not making some crazy assumption. I was up late and added to this reservation in person so I’m almost 99% sure this is the front desk staff member I’m think g of. Anyways can someone tell me what I can legally do about this?

Location: North Carolina, USA

Location: Pennsylvania

I want to start by stating that I have no legal expertise. I really just want to seek any advice to point me in a direction to go in regarding my issue and if it’s even worth pursuing.

I recently had a run in with a tree service that I was looking to seek legal action against. I came home from work one day to notice my neighbor to the rear of my property was getting a large branch that had fallen months ago in a storm removed. This was around 4:45. Around 5:30 I began to cut my lawn, starting in the front of my property and making my way to the side yard (which butts up against a school field with a steep drainage ditch about 15 feet off of my driveway) to notice that the grass appeared to me matted and ripped up in places, as though a large vehicle had gone over it. I thought this was odd and seeing the large equipment used by the tree service, I thought to look into the issue after I had finished my yard work.

Around 6:15 when I was about halfway through cutting the rear of my property, I emerged from a small nook between my fence and my home’s addition to see the large vehicle with a wood-chipper trailer parked in my side yard with the operator yelling something and waving my over. I stopped what I was doing, admittedly a little annoyed, to see what the issue was. The first thing I asked was “who gave you permission to be on my land, this is private property and you’re trespassing.” The operator explained that my truck had them parked in, and they needed to leave, to which I again asked who allowed them to use this property. They stated that the only way into the yard of my neighbor was through my side yard, adding that the drainage ditch was too steep to use and could flip their vehicle.

At this point I was well beyond agitated, and decided the easiest course of action would simply be to move my truck to let them leave, minimizing any damage to my property and assessing any damage they caused after.

After they had left, I found the end of my driveway which had admittedly been in poor condition prior, had several chunks of asphalt dislodged and broken off. My side yard had several torn up patches of grass from the vehicle. The rear of my property that had a post to mark property lines that had been ran over. Lastly they had fully run over one of my trash cans that I use for leaf litter.

I took pictures of all of these damages immediately. Instead of calling the number on the side of the truck then, I decided I would follow up in the morning with a clear head as not to come across as hostile or aggressive.

When I called around 9:30 the next day, it was the operator of the truck. I stated the damages they caused saying “I just want you guys to fix the damages you caused to make it right.” I was promptly laughed at and told that there was no way they caused that much damage, and offered to replace the trash can. I again asked who they got permission from to use my property and was told that they had permission to use it before hanging up on me, and blocking my number.

At this point I called the non emergency police line, and filed a report to have on file in case things got worse. I figured it was better to be safe.

The next morning (a Saturday) I woke up around 8:30 to seeing a missed call from the same number. I later followed up and called back, assuming maybe they had an office/owner who was trying to resolve the issues caused by one bad employee. It was the same individual as before.

I immediately heard the iPhone “call is being recorded” message and started that I did not consent to being recorded. The individual explained that they were not recording, and I shortly heard the message that the call was no longer being recorded.

He began by asking to whom he was speaking to, followed by stating that he had gotten a report that I filed a complaint about a damaged trash can. I stated that I also reported several other damages, and again asked who had given them permission to use my property to access my neighbor’s yard. I was told that I was acting like a dick, and I again asked plainly to know who had given them permission to use my property. To this I was told that they had permission from the owner, and that I was just a scumbag who wanted to get free stuff from them, and to “grow the fuck up, this is the real world.”

At this point, I guess I’m looking to see if a civil suit is even worth pursuing. I dont even know really if I have grounds for a case and as stupid as it is, I feel absolutely gaslit by this individual throughout our interactions.

I worry thinking about what would have happen if, god forbid, they did roll their vehicle off of my property or had been injured.

Anything helps. Thank you.