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Asperger Syndrome and Manipulation

I would greatly appreciate some advice and clarity regarding a relationship between my brother-in-law and his now ex-girlfriend. Brother has aspergers and ADHD, 26 years old. Girlfriend is 27-28. They've been together for around four years, have two kids together with the addition of her other two kids from a previous relationship. He was just kicked out of the place they are living by her. The reason hasn't been disclosed, but this type of behavior isn't new. Here comes all the history that makes me think there is a case here. They first met after he was honorably discharged from the military. He disclosed to her his mental health issues along with admitting he was suicidal during his service. They dated for six months while he lived at his Aunt's place. He then moved in with her, the two children mentioned before, her mother and her brother. They were there until she finally received section 8 housing. Brother, GF and two kids moved into the new place. After living there for 3 months, they found out she was pregnant. Brother proposed, she said no because it would change her financial situation. He went along with it, staying 'engaged', but not officially. She also asked him not to change his address to their new house and he complied. She also had him set up a bank account that she could put her money into for savings and it not be associated with her. She immediately took control of all the money that they would make over the next three and a half years. Fast forward to their first child together being born. Then fast forward to their second being born. Neither of his children have his last name. She told him that if the state knew she had a second income (him), that they would reduce all the aid she has been receiving. He went along with it, trusting every decision she made. Anytime he wanted to spend his own money, she would guilt trip him and tell him anything he wanted to buy for himself couldn't be justified. At the same time, she would spend outside of their fake budget and lavish gifts and parties on the kids (not such a bad thing), but on herself at the same time. I sold him my old car for $1. She convinced him to trade it in and get a single vehicle for the family, but only in her name. This happened again and then once more for their current...errr...her current vehicle. She refused to ever have his name on any of the vehicles, her excuse being that his credit was too bad to include him as a co-signer. That doesn't make sense to me at all. They moved back in with her mom at the end of December 2016, after being denied living arrangements at my wife's parents house. The reason? The county told her that there were too many people living in their house (not knowing of my BiL living there) and offered her a new place, which she refused because it was too much money. She didn't want to afford it, even though she would more than be able to. Through her manipulation of welfare systems and my brother-in-law, she built up roughly $40,000 in savings. Two weeks ago she told everyone in the family that he was abusing their children physically, had him close his account and hand all the money over to her. He did it. We also saw all the children soon after. Nothing indicated that there was any abuse, from behavioral changes or outward appearances. From everything I've seen over the years, these claims absolutely do not match up with his behavior. She let him move back in as well. Now, today, he was kicked out for what seems to be the final time after being handed $50 from her. I have yet to receive any reason as to why, but I want to be proactive and see what can be done, or what should be done. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

What is your question specifically?

Can I destroy my own car?

My car was towed and I probably won't be able to get it back. Can I go to the lot and assuming they let me "get something out of my car" can I basically destroy the car? I'm thinking cut the leather seats, break the glass, etc... but no fire. Is this legal?

So, while it is there, you are accumulating storage fees, which, I suspect you do not plan to pay. They will eventually sell it. The proceeds will go to offset what you owe. They will bill you for the difference: Storage fees - what the car sold for = Bill you get. Are you sure you want to do this? I mean... why not just donate your money to charity or something if you want to throw it away?

Filing a legal complaint against HOA

This is a edited version of a summarized story that was deleted by thepatman[M] for being too long. What remains is all important and pertinent information needed for anyone who cares to give accurate response. We are young first time homeowners and we moved into a upper middle class neighborhood with an HOA. When we met our real estate agent she assured us this HOA was basically inactive and only existed to do lawn maintenance and landscaping in the commonspace. We ended up buying the house, closed the deal in July of '16 not 2 weeks after we closed we noticed the "lawn care" leaves a lot to be desired, the yard is .25 acres and they mow about .5 acres of one patch of sod. No weeding or edging at all. We also noticed that they spray pesticides are herbicides, we put up a sign requesting they not spray. These were ignored. We made requests in writing and email to the HOA saying only a portion of the yard was being done and our requests for no spraying is ignored. That letter was ignored, so i withheld HOA fees since that is their only job. I then started getting harassing letters from the HOA about our fees and the backyard fence being not in compliance with some arbitrary rule they apparently made up (nothing in CCR'S regarding fences that applied to mine) and I own the land they wanted to claim for the neighborhood. I called the city and asked them if my fence was in violation they said that had no complaints on file and that the fence was fine. So we ignored it. This house had been here for 3 years with the same fence before we moved in and was never taken care of before, due to the fact the HOA at the time was owned by the people who built the house. After this incident seemed settled and done with they changed owners of the HOA to a new company (1 star rated on google and yelp) The new company has not brought up the fence and has instead started harassing us immediately about my vehicle in the front of my house on the street (street parking is allowed and everyone does it) which i use to tow my ATV into the OHV riding areas ( I keep the ATV parked in my garage) Its a jeep wrangler, with a cargo bed nothing commercial just a average jeep that tows a single quad. There are several other jeeps and even much larger trucks in the neighborhood and they are no different. They have sent me tons of harassing letters sometimes fining me more than once a month claiming im in violation of a rule "No storage or parking of trailers, rv, boats or any vehicles larger than a non commercial truck." There are several glaring problems and hypocrisies in this claim. First of all, this is not a gated community, they do not own the infrastructure, this is a city street. Also, this was never an issue and has been there since I moved in until the new HOA that was elected without my permission or ability to vote on. I've noticed no one else is getting fines or letters, some people even park their jeeps in their front yard. We tried telling the HOA by Email, letter, and phone that this is not a violation and that almost everyone else in the neighborhood does the same thing, im blatantly ignored and followed up by more fines and harassing letters. I've taken pictures of commercial vehicles towing trailers parked in the neighborhood as well as commercial sized pickup trucks as evidence (my neighbors RAM dually, etc) Other rules are not enforced either to other members of HOA, there's a rule about no satellite dishes and lots of people have them, there's a rule about no basketball goals and a couple of people have those too. There's a rule about no commercial signs or business but there's a lady who runs a nail salon out of her house at the front of the neighborhood and has for months with no intervention by the HOA. People keep their trash cans out in front of their garages even though that's not allowed, yet I'm the only one who is harassed about these rules. My neighbors across the street have more animals than allowed due to CCRs and they are not fined. In fact they are breeding dogs and selling them. They are also a nuisance, they bark every time they come outside and then I have to listen to the owners scream at the dogs to shut up. The only difference between us and the rest of the people in the neighborhood is we are the youngest couple in the neighborhood (by far) we are late 20s and have no kids most people in this neighborhood are empty nester retired or have teenage kids, they are mostly 50-60+. My guess is they are don't like us and are probably guilty of some sort of targeted age discrimination. There are other problems as well: -We are NEVER invited to HOA meetings -None of the common area landscaping is irrigated, looks like crap -3 Trees they planted in my yard right before we moved in died (only house no trees in my yard) -They will not allow us to join the HOA Facebook group -Irrigation in my front yard not serviced by hoa the sprayer heads out of alignment and it sprays our cars in the driveway not our grass leaving dead spots, this is their responsibility according to CCRs -Retaining wall on the north side of my property in dangerous disrepair and they refuse to address it (major safety issue) Then we got a new letter today in the mail saying they had another meeting we were not invited to where my neighbor 2 houses down (member of a board i've never been invited to speak on) decided along with some other old jackasses that they made a new rule if people don't pay the HOA dues and fines then they can garnish wages, take your house etc. Somehow I didn't get to vote in this matter either. According to the new "resolution" and "certificate of adoption" they mailed me. I've sent letters requesting repairs and maintenance to be done, only to be ignored, they only mow 1/3rd of my front yard ( a small sod patch) now they are threatening to garnish my wages or take my house. I've had enough. I want to sue them. I have the names and addresses of everyone involved that I want to take to court. I went to the courthouse they told me I have to fill out a legal form using specific legal approved language and request a monetary amount for damages to proceed. I really just want to be dissolved from the HOA .We will sue for non-punitive damages and legal fees, but need to figure out what is a reasonable/standard amount. I am looking for a previous case record of anyone who has sued their HOA because I need the legal verbiage and jargon to use as a format for filling my case so I don't need to hire an attorney. I would hire an attorney but at this time the cost is prohibitive, unless one could be hired pro-bono, as we only make moderate incomes and our cost of living is very high. I thank everyone in advance for responses, please reply soon I would like to file this as soon as possible before they spring some sort of action on me.

I have read through a lot of this. You need an attorney. The first thing you need an attorney to do is to determine, based on your HOA bylaws, if you are right. Right off the bat (if I am reading this right), you started withholding your HOA fees because you did not like the way they were doing lawn care. The attorney may say "Yea... you have a case"... OR the attorney may say: "WTF are you doing? You are about 1 more step away from getting a lien placed on your house, and you don't have a leg to stand on". HOA's are notoriously draconian. And, they most usually operate on firm legal grounds. Even if you can find someone to write your lawsuit for you for free... I would say that you stand at least a better than average chance that that lawsuit would just be you pissing in the wind.Answer #2: What you're asking for is to have an attorney write your complaint for you. You need to hire someone for that. There's no standardized complaint for suing an HOA where you can just plug names & dates into a template. It hinges on the specific facts of your case, your allegations, and the relevant HOA bylaws & deed restrictions.

I just assaulted a man (he was in the wrong)for saying rude things to my girlfriend. I live in Texas. Short story inside. Help

I posted this over in askreddit and didnt recieve much help so let me preface two things 1. To start off there is no way I can convince you that I am not some thug that goes out and looks for altercations, but I hope by explaining in the most non biased way that you will see the situation for what it is. 2. I know I boned myself on this and I wont reject any negative criticism you have to say, but Im looking for help of my current situation I was at a bar with my girlfriend that we frequent often. Towards closing time a obvious drunk man began rudely and obviously ( was facing her a few feet away and speaking in her direction) verbally harassing my girlfriend. I was trying to close out my tab at this moment. He was attempting to hit on her ( "hey baby bring that ass over here" etc..) I told him to leave. He said or what. So I hit him ONCE he went down and got up and the bouncers intervened. We were escorted out, but later a bouncer I knew had told me that he was 90% sure the man was filing a police report. Please reddit what can I do? My girlfriend is in tears and I am on the verge of a panic attack I can provide specifics if asked

> I told him to leave. You don't get to command people to do things in spaces you don't own or control when they aren't threatening your safety. >So I hit him ONCE he went down and got up and the bouncers intervened. You don't get to hit people when there is no reasonable fear for your safety. > Please reddit what can I do? Pray for deferred adjudication or probation, if it gets that far? > I hope by explaining in the most non biased way that you will see the situation for what it is. I'm interested in the biased version, 'cuz by the non-biased version, you're quite plainly guilty.

Does a dog that eats part of a dead human body without killing it legally have to be put down?

In the show Shameless, a dog is stuck in an apartment for several days with its owner who had died. It ate part of the body since it had no other food. When they are discovered, someone mentions that dogs that have consumed human flesh are legally required to be put down. Would a dog really have to be put down in that situation?

That's just one of the billion of completely made-up things in that showAnswer #2: No, that’s not a thingAnswer #3: Not on its own. But if the dog had gotten some disease or injury from eating this corpse, or developed a taste for human flesh the owner (or owner’s estate) might elect to euthanize it though.

[Rhode Island] Neighbors in Apartment Complex continuously using objects to prop fire doors open

I live in an apartment complex in Rhode Island, on the third floor. The third floor has 4 units in a hallway with two fire doors, one leading to the front of the building and one leading the the back of the building. They are large heavy non-latch doors designed to always swing closed unless something is obstructing them. This is in case a fire breaks out in one of the apartments, making the fire have a harder time spreading and collecting oxygen. Recently, the neighbors across the hall from us have been using rocks or other objects to jam the doors open, believing it is "too hot" in their apartment. My girlfriend and I continuously remove the objects to allow the doors to swing shut. There was a confrontation in the parking lot where one of the neighbors (a man) was standing by his car after my girlfriend had closed the doors for the third time that day. He postured, called her a "stupid bitch", and then his wife came down and tried to calm him down. They drove off, and after calling the office they directed us to call the police, who were unhelpful without someone having witnessed the event (I was not home at the time). We issued a complaint to the main office multiple times about the doors and about the neighbor, but were told without eye witness accounts nothing could be done, though the did sympathize and "believe" it was him. The main office did issue a letter stating that doors must remain closed at all times, yet the neighbors have not complied. I am told that without proof, or another eye witness to back up that it was them, that the office can't do much more than issue letters. My next step: 1.) Record the neighbor through the eye hole in our apartment door placing a rock in the doorway (they are directly across from use so I do not need to leave my apartment to record). Will this serve as legal proof? 2.) Call the fire marshal the next time the door is ajar to have the apartment complex fined, perhaps prompting them to more rigorously pursue whoever the culprit is. Are there any other solutions? Has anyone had similar experience? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks! Topic: Landlord Tenant Housing

Fire Marshalls. They will make apartment owner care. Which will lead to a fix. Idiots blocking fire doors is why people die.

GA/Hypothetical: Could Ken Bone sue companies using his image and name for shirts?

I saw that he has started selling his own shirts, but also that other companies started selling shirts focusing on his name like "Bone Zone", "We Ken Bone" And using his image. Would he have a legitimate claim to sue them for using his name and image without consent or royalties?

Anybody making a buck off of someone else's likeness opens up the opportunity to be sued by that person. The risk will be there.

My friend had his USAA bank account compromised and two loans taken out in his name. Now the bank wants him to pay.

From Denver: Putting this up for my friend who is not at all internet savvy. If I get any good advice I'll show it to him and let him/or maybe let him take over this throwaway account for answering questions directly. This situation has been going on for some time, but he banks with USAA. About a month ago he discovered two hidden accounts(!), which turned out to be loans taken out in his name. He called USAA as soon as he found out, and they started their fraud investigation, freezing his accounts. A few days later they said that as a result of their investigation his accounts would be closed (checking, savings, and car insurance), he would be held liable for the two loans ($2500 and $5000) and that his checking and savings accounts would be put towards that balance. So, he: * called Experian and put a freeze on his credit * called the police * called a lawyer * changed **all** his passwords The detectives tell him that USAA doesn't even believe that *he* took out the loans, but that he must have had an accomplice. (The funds were transferred to another bank out of state) Apparently he called multiple lawyers, but hasn't found one interested in taking on USAA. He has opened a new bank account so he can at least have access to new money coming in. ________________________________________________ So, what now? Is he boned? Can he find remediation in small claims court? I believe the sum of his accounts is around $3000. Separately, is there something concerning the protection of his identity we've missed?

>So, he: called Experian and put a freeze on his credit called the police called a lawyer changed all his passwords He did all the right things. Now it's a matter of "hurry up and wait". >So, what now? Is he boned? Can he find remediation in small claims court? I believe the sum of his accounts is around $3000. If USAA refuses to dismiss those loans, small claims court is his only option, and he will have to prove he did not authorize those loans. However, there is an odd part of this story. You said the following: >Putting this up for my friend who is **not at all internet savvy**. USAA's banking is done all online. Sure, you can do some things over the phone, but with either medium there are multiple levels of user verification which are hard to crack. Plus, accounts don't simply stay hidden from the account holder. Either your friend's story is true and his account was hacked (possibly by someone who knows him closely), or he isn't telling the truth.Answer #2: This is nearly identical to a thread a few months ago that topped r/personalfinance. The consensus was that OP was either a troll or OP's girlfriend ("Stella") was involved in something shady and didn't want to admit it. https://np.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/3db0qo/usaa_bank_refuses_to_do_business_with_us/ EDIT: OP, not saying this is the case with your friend, but you'll probably find good advice in the 1200+ comments in that thread. EDIT2: [Link to a mirror of the original, deleted, post.](https://np.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/3ddmix/usaa_bank_refuses_to_do_business_with_user_top/ct4jm1r)Answer #3: USAA has some of the best customer service out there. He should absolutely try to call back. They've worked with me any time I've had issues, including fraudulent charges.

(California) In retail, and was hired as a floor worker but am being forced to do janitorial work as well.

I work in a thrift store, and for a long period of time was not told to do janitorial work after the store closed. For the past 5 months we have been told we have to do janitorial duties included with our regular duties on a change to the employee handbook stating that "From time to time there will be special projects asked to be done, if an employee says no to do a project it will be considered insubordination and subject to termination." The clause says from time to time, yet this has seemed to become a permanent change at this point and is done everyday. We still have a janitor so it's not like if we don't do it, it won't be done. We are also never told formally when our job descriptions are updated and have attempted to get a formal copy to which I am told I am not allowed to have a copy. Honestly the employee handbook statement already had seemed to scream illegal, but wasn't able to find any sort of material which really went against it. If you can help reference me material as to whether it's legal/illegal for knowledge it would be much appreciated. Thanks for the help.

Keeping a store clean is usually an essential duty for a retail employee. Unless they are asking you to deal with hazardous materials or body fluids without protection (or another unsafe practice) I would consider it perfectly reasonable. There is absolutely no way that it is illegal to ask employees to take on extra duties. It may violate a union agreement, but that's the only possible excuse. You may be young, so let me just warn you that this is something that you will be dealing with at every job you ever have. Answer #2: As long as the employer isn't asking you to do something illegal (or unsafe because of OSHA or any other workplace regs), there's no issue. Do what they ask or suffer the consequences.

Is it legal for my apartment office to accept packages even though they will just return to sender? Oklahoma.

Hi, my apartment complex just sent out an alert about how I have to sign up for this thing called parcelpending and give that external system my credit card number in order for the apartment to put my package in a locker for me to pick up 24/7. The only issue is this system charges $3 a day after a certain window and if I don't signup for it my complex will accept my package from USPS and return to sender. Is that legal for them to do? Shouldn't they just say they don't accept packages if they're going to force their tenants into a system that wasn't part of their original lease agreement? I may have signed something that allows them to accept packages for me, but I'm wondering how far that goes in a case like this. It's almost smarter for them to give us bigger mail boxes. At my other apartment they didn't accept packages and then I had to pick them up at the post office. Which is fine with me but if it's returned to sender how is the mail carrier going to know it's just my apartment being a jerk? I don't want to upload my whole lease because of privacy concerns. I'll probably end up signing up for the "service" just to bypass it all. But I can't help but feel like this is violating my rights.

You can ask the postal service directly if this is illegal for them to do. 1-800-ASK-USPS If it's illegal, then they'll be the best resource for finding out how to remedy the situation. Whether it's legal or not, it seems like your apartment is owned by people that have zero respect for their tenants. I would begin looking at other places that are not owned by the same people to see if there's any better choices available when your lease ends.Answer #2: I had parcelpending at my old apartment. They incorrectly charged me a monthly fee (but sorted it out after contacting support). Watch your credit card statement after signup just in case. I'd recommend taking a screenshot after you've selected your apartment - it should show the pricing information, and if it doesn't show monthly fee, you could use this to dispute the charge with your CC if support doesn't work out. Answer #3: Can you refuse and get all parcels carded for pickup at the post office so they don't get delivered? I can do that for free in Canada (at least for stuff that I order). It might be an option for you. Even if I had to pay, I'd rather pay the post office in this situation. This also seems like abuse of the postal system to me. They are accepting and then returning to sender which is making more work for the postal service. Return to sender parcels are usually refused at the point of delivery, not after. Call the post office and ask them about this.

[NSW, Australia] A caseworker took our personal information, then quit and there is no record of us

Hi all, I'd like to see if there is anything I can do to protect myself against identity theft, or see if it's likely to happen at all. My partner and I applied to be foster carers last year, submitted 100 points of ID and filled in paperwork for a police check indluding all our previous addresses, family information etc. The caseworker assured us this would be filed. We didn't here much after this other than "yes it's been filed, just waiting" and eventually just kind of forgot about it. Last month we decided to continue the process, with a new caseworker who chased up the paperwork. Shortly after trying to track down our file, the original caseworker quit and our file is nowhere to be seen. Today we learnt that our police checks weren't filed either. Should we be concerned about our personal information and its location, and is there anything we can do/should do?

You could keep an eye on your credit, but frankly this kind of loosy-goosy behavior is totally normal for foster agencies. If you want to continue with the process, get used to retaining copies of everything so you can refile them, and hounding workers to do the next step. Sorry, but this is the way it goes.Answer #2: I work in foster care. It sounds like you had a shit caseworker who didn't want to do any work. The worker probably already knew they were planning on quitting and did a half ass attempt at going through the motions of licensing you and then never actually did any of the work. Monitor your credit just in case but I'm willing to bet the worker was just lazy and not trying to steal your personal information.

I think a guy I met on the bus started following me on my way to school.

A few months ago a guy on the bus smiled at me and I smiled back. He then spent the whole trip staring at me and I felt really uncomfortable but I didn't say anything. After the bus I always have to take the metro and he has to do that too, but in the opposite direction. But the day he smiled at me he took the metro with me and watched me from the door before taking the opposite train. He did that for one month at least. One day he followed me out of the train and he asked me my name and my phone number. I told him they I didn't want to do it, but he insisted so I got scared and I gave him a fake phone number. He then tried to kiss me so told him I was 14 (he was probably around 25) but he could hardly speak my language (Italian) so I don't know if he got that. Finally a friend arrived and he let me go but not without kissing me on the cheeks. All of this was in February. He continued following me to my train stop and watching me. Luckily I see him only in the morning. Recently anyway I saw him twice behind me and my friend near my school. I'm disturbed and I don't know what to do. What are my rights?

Go to the policeAnswer #2: Like the others said, I would definitely go to the police and make a report. Are you actually a minor or did you just say that, it wasn't clear? If you are, please speak with your parents or a trusted adult. Listen to your gut - if it feels off, it probably is. As a practical matter, because the police can only do so much, PLEASE look into taking self defense classes, buying pepper spray (legally) and/or any other personal weapon that you can legally obtain and feel comfortable using, and see if you can change the times you are on the train and/or find friends to go with you. I would also suggest keeping a friend updated on where you are whenever he's around, just in case. You can also speak with your school about the issue, although it sounds like this is occurring on a public bus? The bus/transit company may have a number to call if you are feeling unsafe - you should look into that. If anyone else has suggestions on how to keep oneself safe, please leave them for OP.

Starting an online shop, am I breaking any laws? (NZ)

The idea of the site is to buy cheap items in bulk off Aliexpress & similar sites and sell the items at double the price & the buyer gets the item in half the time they would if purchased elsewhere. Are any laws being broken here that I'm unaware of?

You're describing an import business, and would probably need to comply with relevant regulations as a commercial importer. As to buying items cheap and selling high, that's exactly what the business model is - nothing illegal in making that profit if you can. [https://www.business.govt.nz/risks-and-operations/manufacturing/importing-and-exporting-laws/](https://www.business.govt.nz/risks-and-operations/manufacturing/importing-and-exporting-laws/)

Informed that someone I know possess illegal content on their computer. Should I report it to local authorities?

So my close friend just told me that her former roommate/life long friend had/has child pornography, snuff content and possibly a transcription of her convincing people on the internet to commit suicide. My friend said that her roommate asked her to "hold me accountable for deleting this stuff" about a year ago. Nothing ever happened. I feel incredibly uncomfortable and want to report this person for possession to the local authorities. I already filed a report online to the national center for missing and exploited children. My boyfriend and close friend are worried that she'll come after me if she finds out I reported her. I don't have any proof she actually has these things on her computer but I know that she once did. Morally I want this person investigated but don't know if I have enough proof if it's all she-said she-said stuff.

Your report will be nearly useless to the police, since everything you had is second hand. Your close friend will have to be involved as the actual witness if anything will come of this.

[NC] Company abruptly ended my position. They set up a new email account with my identity and are using it to send emails under my name. Fraud?

I was abruptly let go from my company, and things got a little hostile in emails. I had an email program on my phone that I used for work emails ([email protected]). I discovered that, after they deactivated my email address last Tuesday ([email protected]), they reactivated it last Wednesday but gave it a new address ([email protected]) and it was still able to send emails under my name (John Doe). An email I had in my outbox to my personal mail from before they deactivated it automatically sent, giving me that evidence, and the spam service we use sent an email automatically to me, verifying the new address. The email was a copy of my position ending. When I tried to login or otherwise use my email service, my old password isn't accepted. Yesterday, the new email address sent an email to two co-workers and cc'd my personal email, and included a file that contained proprietary information about the work I've done recently. An outdated copy, but included it nonetheless. The only people who had this file iirc were those two coworkers and my boss...who then denied knowing anything about it. When I left, I had been in contact with some major customers over a large program we were working, but I hadn't given them an update for a week or so. What the hell? So my company is clearly able to send emails that are using my identity, but I definitely am not sending them. This is fraud, right? I have no idea what they're doing with my identity right now, and my two coworkers thought it was me that sent the file.

That seems odd, but so far nothing fraudulent has happened. Your company owns that email address and any contents in it. As long as they're not holding themselves out as you to others to your financial detriment or their gain, nothing "wrong" has happened. Answer #2: Send a friendly email to the accounts you are worried about, informing them you no longer work for your former employer but wish them well in whatever ventures you had been working on with them. This way they know the situation and can call out your former employer if they continue using your name.

Suspicious but coincidental series of events on a first date.

So I met this girl on tinder, and last night we went on our first date to a popular downtown pool hall. We each had two drinks at the bar, then I ordered us a final round and delivered it from the bar to our high top. After that we left, and she threw up in the Uber on the way back to my place. We got inside we can on the carpet and I held her hair back as she continued to vomit. Shortly after her friends came and picked her up and that was it. She admitted to having not drank since January. From her point of view she went out with a random tinder guy, then got sick after having a drink she didn’t see poured. This all just happened to be right before we were coming back to my place. How can I protect myself?

>How can I protect myself? Stop dating lightweights on Tinder.Answer #2: You didn’t do anything to her so what is there to protect yourself from? Unless you actually drugged her or put your hands on her, what could she even say happened?

Texas - Gun Range Incident

My boyfriend and I were recently at an indoor gun range in Texas. We were standing back from the shooting stalls, loading magazines when something hit my boyfriend on the head. A stream of blood started to come down, so we rushed him out of the shooting area to ask for first aid. We assumed it was a spent bullet casing from the man in the lane next to us, shooting a .40, as his casings seemed to be flying and hitting us. The gun range commented on of course this happening when there was not a medic working. My boyfriend commented on me being a medical professional, so I think they just stepped back and let me handle it. They did provide gauze, gloves, and hydrogen peroxide. There was a laceration/pretty significant gash, so we held pressure to stop the bleeding but quickly moved out of there to get him to the emergency room for stitches. Nurse looking at the wound had military experience, plus showing pictures, and telling the story to friends, it was pretty much determined there was no way this was caused by a casing, more likely either a fragment or a ricocheted bullet. The wound required 7 staples. He called the range, without really thinking through what should be said, gave them some more details, and just left his name and number. Nothing was really said from their end other than call them back if he needed to. Is there any reason to contact a lawyer in this situation and/or file a police report? He is worried that if he doesn't bring it to someone's attention and there was some kind of negligence that happened, it could in the future result in someone being more seriously hurt. Should the range be paying for his medical bills? We did sign a waiver on entry, however, it was more covering the rules of the place and nothing about them not being responsible.

A casing might give you a slight burn if it goes down your shirt. He got shot. How that happened is anyone's guess but that's what the problem is. Why the hospital didn't report the wound to the cops is anyone's guess but you should as there's something critically unsafe about that range. There should never be any possibility of being shot at a range. The police need to investigate before the next one catches someone between the eyes.

Im being charged for watching TV channels and radio while I dont

So I just got a yearly charge for watching Swedish TV and Radio while I dont even use the radio or watch TV. In the living room I have connected an xbox one where I sometimes play on or watch YouTube. Im currently being charged 280 usd / 2500 Swedish Krona, is there anything can do about this, help would be greatly appreciated! :) Topic: Other Civil Matters

If you do not watch the TV to watch TV... replace it with a computer monitor which does not have a TV transceiver/receiver built in. This link that /u/wild_b_cat provided https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/ has a clear definition: >The term "television receiver" includes: >TV set >Digital box >Video camera with channel selector >DVD player with channel selector >Computer with a TV-card Once you do not have a TV, you should be able to argue that the tax does not apply to you anymore. Depending on local laws, this may only help next year... but 2,500 Krona is a lot of money for a service you never use.Answer #2: You may have better luck asking in a Swedish-specific subreddit (/r/Sweden?) but from some quick Googling it sounds like this is the law in Sweden since you own a TV, and the only way around is to not own a TV. [https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/](https://www.radiotjanst.se/en/Radio-and-TV-fee/)

Bus drivers in my town commonly use buses as weapons. Authorities don't see it that way. Do I have recourse? (Oregon)

[deleted] Topic: Criminal Law

> The drivers' boss straight-up told me that it was ok for them to do this because they can't possibly make a right turn without using more than just their lane. He's probably right. This isn't a legal issue, it's a physical one. Large vehicles take wide turns because they aren't small and agile enough to do it any other way. > When I asked the police, they said that unless there was an actual collision, there is nothing to investigate. Isn't that like saying that if there isn't a bullet wound, it isn't worth investigating a shooting? Hardly. The police aren't capable or interested (nor should they be) in wasting resources investigating an "almost" traffic accident. At most, they'd be guilty of a moving violation. Legally, you cannot force the police to investigate something, especially a non-crime. You can try to sue in civil court, but you have no damages. Honestly, I have a hard time believing your point of view, and think it's much more likely that you're an anxious driver, or a reckless one who speeds through intersections. Because I live in an area with large buses and small streets, where large vehicles frequently turn such that they head into the opposing lane. And I've never once had to stomp on my breaks to avoid being hit, or even considered it a close call.Answer #2: Go to your local moving truck place. Rent the biggest truck they have and go drive it around in rush hour traffic. then come back and complain about the bus drivers.Answer #3: >Am I taking crazy pills? Well, it's a possibility worth considering. Have any other drivers in your town noticed the bus drivers doing this?

Killed a bald eagle to protect guinea pigss [CA]

[removed]

Nobody is going to give you advice on how to cover up evidence of a federal crime. There is nothing in the statute saying it's a defense that you were protecting another animal. That's not to say there can't be, or that you would actually be charged, but this is not self help territory. Do nothing until you've talked to a criminal defense attorney.

[MT] My boss changed my job description after I commented on all the additional duties I was given.

I started at a non-profit in March. The interview process went smoothly, but when I started I was told that half of my week would be in my office and the other half would be working at the front desk--basically a glorified secretary (seriously....senior staff have introduced me as the receptionist). That's not the job I interviewed for, or the duties I was given when I accepted the position. There's no way I would have taken the job. My title is Volunteer and Community Coordinator. I barely have time to do my "real job" because 20 hours of my week I'm downstairs answering the phone and making copies. I'm supposed to be coordinating the massive number of volunteers we need to keep moving forward, routing all of the finance information, entering and reconciling membership information, and handling all the outside community-centric events. I simply *cannot* do all that in 20 hours a week (petty side note: one of the days I'm not at the front desk is "meeting day," so I can't get work done then, either). I'm salaried, so I come in early and leave late to try and get all my work done. When I pointed out to my direct supervisor that the front desk work was nowhere in my job description and that I'd like a little help, she was very understanding. She took my concerns to the director, who simply re-wrote my job description and said "sorry, this used to be in there, no idea how it wasn't something you were aware of, good luck, shmuck." I understand that we're broke and they can't afford to hire someone for part-time administrative work when I'm right here, "getting it all done," but I'm exhausted. I work 50+ hours a week, which isn't insane, but I didn't sign up for that. I want to stay here, I like my "real job," but I don't know how to broach the fact that they hired me under false pretenses. They *knew* that I'd be at the front desk for 20 hours a week and (I feel) purposely withheld that information so I would accept the position. I'm clearly over-qualified to be a "receptionist." Do I have a leg to stand on? I'd like to work with the company, and I'm willing to stay if they can hire someone to work at least one or two of the three days I'm answering phones and making fucking coffee, but I cannot keep both the front of the museum and the back of it running.

>Do I have a leg to stand on? Nope. Welcome to at will employment, where the job description and duties are made up ad only the paystubs matter.Answer #2: You can either find a new job doing what you want or accept the change in job duties.

(AL) My girlfriend was put in jail over the weekend for an MIP and Public Intox. She was there for the minimum 8 hours and then left. Today the security guard from the holding cell sent her a facebook message to ask if she was okay. Besides it being very unethical, Is this allowed/legal?

EDIT: yeah yeah I get it it's not illegal to message somebody, my bad. It's just very creepy for a 30-something y/o guard to be searching for and messaging a 20 y/o on Facebook that he babysat in a jail cell when she was piss ass drunk. It just sounded like a plot to a kidnapping movie when she told me he messaged her lol. Thanks for your replies.

Yes. When did FB messages become illegal?Answer #2: Sure its legal. It might be violating some company policy or something though.

[NJ] I took out a loan in my name through Apple to finance an iPhone for my ex on the condition he would make the payments. (Yes, stupid.) He now refuses to pay and will not surrender the phone. What are my options?

Basically as the title states. Yes I know it was a very foolish decision but I am young and still learning. I obviously got the message. I’m in New Jersey, I have a lawyer in mind, and the loan provider is CitizenOne. I am aware that payment is expected of me so I will be making the payments until I can figure out how to recover the money or phone from the idiot. Any help or advice is appreciated. Thanks! Topic: Other Civil Matters

You can take them to small claims court if the amount you are out is $3,000 or less. Bring all the bills/statements and anything you have showing this agreement.

[CO] ADT took my pre-installed security

I signed up with ADT and then decided it was not for us within their 3-days no questions asked cancellation policy. But in the process of uninstalling their equipment, they took our pre-installed motion detector and original security system which we had paid roughly $1400 for when we built the house (2 month old house). After calling several times and emailing (even corporate HQ) to no avail and no response, what can I do? Topic: Other Civil Matters

Sue them in small claims court. Make sure you have reciepts for the goods they took.

How much authority does a local building inspector really have?

I had a deck constructed by a local, licensed and well known deck builder. I am more than capable of doing this work myself, but with a new daughter and a very heavy workload, I just simply didn't have the time to dedicate to a project of this size. Based on the construction style that I wanted, the new deck was not built to current code. A few years ago, it would have passed, but changes to the code now require the deck to be completely free-standing, i.e., not supported by the house in any way. I didn't want to do this for several reasons, which aren't pertinent to this conversation but I can elaborate if necessary. A permit was not pulled for this job for a couple reasons. The location made doing this under the radar very easy, the intended design would have had to be changed, and cost savings both up front and in the reevaluation of property values. As I stated earlier, I am more than capable of taking on this project, I built the current house that this deck is on, but time constraints were prohibitive. I am familiar with the current code and what is acceptable and safe. On to the good part. The builder totally botched this job from start to finish. Every aspect was done as sloppy and fast as they could, and it's currently 3 months behind schedule. It was done so bad the first time that they came out and tore all the decking and railings off and replaced them due to the way they were installed. They also promised to fix several other issues that I was not happy with when doing the rebuilding. Now they are "done" and are hounding me for the balance of the bill. The problem is that they didn't fix the issues that they claimed they would and the new decking is just as bad as the old, but for different reasons this time. I am so fed up with dealing with them that at this point, I want them to just go away and I'll fix it myself in the spring. I paid 50% up front with the balance due upon completion. I also paid the owner directly in cash as he wanted to keep this project off the books as well. I have zero intention of paying this guy the full remaining balance for such shitty work. It's going to cost me a lot of time and money to do it right myself, but at this point I do not trust them to do it right nor do I trust them enough to even be on my property. The amount I paid so far was more than enough to cover his costs of materials, but obviously not the labor or any profit on the job. The way I look at it, that's not my problem. If it had been done right or on time this would all be a non-issue. The contract I signed originally was also about $6k less than what's being asked for now, although material selections along the way continually added to the overall cost. I have a feeling that when I tell him that we are done working together on this and that he will not be receiving the full amount, he's gunna be pissed and likely threaten me with court. I'm actually ok with this since I have pages and pages of documented promises that were never fulfilled. He never kept up on his end of the deal, and I'm sure as hell not paying for piss poor work that will need to be redone again. If he were to take me to court over this, would involving the city in it be to my advantage? Since he was the hired contractor, whether I wanted to or not, it was his responsibility to pull permits and build it right. He's put in writing that it will be up to or exceeding code. Could the permit office force him to rebuild it right? If so, they would have to completely start over, nothing would be able to be salvaged and it would cost him far more than he stands to gain from collecting the remaining balance. I guess my real question is how much authority would the permit office have over a situation like this? I would assume a local builder wouldn't want to go through the hassle of having the city all over them and losing more money over this issue especially if the city told them they had to start over and do it right. I'd much rather just call it a day with him now and fix it myself. **TLDR:** Hired licensed contractor to build a deck. He totally screwed the pooch on the job from start to finish. No permit was pulled. Wants the balance of the bill. Could the permit office force him to re-build the deck if they were to get involved by way of him taking me to court for the remaining balance? **Edit** Sorry forgot my location, I'm in Michigan. **Edit #2** Spoke with the builder this evening after he continued to demand full payment from me throughout the day. Explained my dissatisfaction with the work performed and informed him that I would not be paying full price for what work was done up to this point. He then demanded about %75 payment immediately with the condition that he would finish the job in the spring at which point I'd have to pay the remaining %25. The terms on his contract are %50 up front and %50 upon completion. That demand was met with a hard no and I told him that I'd give him %30 of the balance and that would be the end of all interaction between us. He seemed pretty pissed, but that's not really my problem. Thanks to all who have commented. A lot of the info really opened my eyes to the legal side of things that I would have thought from my standpoint would have been pretty cut and dry.

>the new deck was not built to current code The deck has to be built to code. A building inspector will likely compel you to either bring it up to code or tear it down. Not the contractor, you. You may be able to sue the contractor for the cost of tearing it down or bringing it up to code, but the moment he produces documents showing you requested that he violate code, you're going to have an uphill battle.

(NJ) Possible retaliatory dismissal from nursing school. Potential ADA and HIPAA issues?

[deleted]

There is no way we can trust such a biased account. If your friend thinks that she was unfairly dismissed she should seek legal counsel. Extortion is illegal.

I have foolishly become a delinquent juror in NYC. I am appearing in court on Friday. What can I expect to happen?

As the title says, I am a bit scatterbrained and failed to respond to 2 jury questionnaires, and have now been subpoenaed to appear for a hearing before the commissioner of jurors. I am worried that this will disrupt my travel plans in January, and worried that this will affect my life negatively. I realize that I am in the wrong. What can I expect going in? Will this have lasting consequences? I have little to no experience this matter, and would appreciate any advice or knowledge. Topic: Other Civil Matters

>I am worried that this will disrupt my travel plans in January That type of thinking and set of priorities is what got you in this situation to begin with. No one can guess what the judge / commissioner of jurors will do. It is possible you will have a punishment (fine/community service). Much more likely is you get a really stern talking to, before getting assigned another juror questionnaire. Be sure to turn that one in.Answer #2: Go to court. Apologize. State your reasoning. Accept the consequences.

A company is trying to charge us for Greek letters!?!

Recently a company contacted us about screen printing Greek letters (frats and sororities) at our shop. They are telling us that Greek letters are copyrighted and we must pay to print shirts with letters on shirts. Is those letters copyrighted and are they just trying to strong arm us?

Fraternities and sororities do have some rights to their name; you can't go around printing shirts about, say, Delta Zeta without paying rights to Delta Zeta. You're right that the individual letters aren't copyrighted, but the combination and/or presentation may be. Much like you can't produce shoes that say "NIKE" and claim that you're just printing an N, an I, a K, and an E. The real answer is much much more complex than anyone can really tell you here. A lot depends on whether the organization has actually staked claims on things and what they've staked it on. More, if you're producing these for a chapter of the organization in question, they might have rights to print them, as well. Who contacted you, anyhow?

[NC] State University had a major data breach where 30,000+ students had their name/dob/ssn leaked. I am one of them. What are my rights here?

http://www.wral.com/ncsu-data-breach-could-affect-thousands/15838437/ >North Carolina State University officials said Friday that an email account containing personal information of about 38,000 people was illegally accessed several weeks ago. >Officials have found no evidence that any personal data have been retrieved or misused or that fraud has been committed using the information, but N.C. State is providing credit monitoring services to those affected. >The hacked email account contained a file from 2013 that included names, mailing addresses, university ID numbers and Social Security numbers, as well as other email that contained names and Social Security numbers, officials said. The university learned of the breach on June 3, and they said it occurred "through a sophisticated phishing scam." Well, it turns out I am one of those people. One year of free credit monitoring feels like minimal compensation for the fact that my SSN is now permanently out there somewhere on the internet for the rest of my life. What happens if I get my identity compromised 2 or 3 years from now? Is that a situation in which I could contact an attorney about holding the University liable? How do I prove that they were grossly negligent with my information? Do you think there will be a class action lawsuit?

If you suffer actual damages, you can collect those. >One year of free credit monitoring feels like minimal compensation. Minimal compensation for a hypothetical future harm? Seems about right, to me. C'mon man, you haven't been injured.

Divorce Morality Clause

My sister-in-law is getting a divorce and her soon to be ex-husband wants to include a morality clause. She doesn't really have the money to hire an attorney. What is her best option to have that clause removed from the decree? She hasn't signed any papers yet. Also, just in case it is relevant, she lives in Texas. Thank you for any advice.

There is no “best approach,” you just have to negotiate, don’t sign something you don’t want to agree to. Now if that means things go to trial a judge may decide that such a clause is in the kids best interest, at which point you have to abide by it, but past just saying you won’t agree to it and seeing if there is something else they want in exchange for removing it there is no way just get it out. Such clauses are enforceable and are reasonably common.

(Michigan), 16 year charged with OWI and use of marijuana, hire lawyer or use public defender?

Blood test came back .08 for alcohol, no level yet on THC. 1st offense. We have the means to hire a lawyer but aren't sure if we should. If we go with a pubic defender, it sounds like one is not appointed until after the preliminary hearing. Does he have to enter a plea at that first hearing? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Public defenders are only for those who do NOT have the means to afford an attorney. You can ask for a public defender, but if you can afford your own attorney you probably don't qualify.

Alcoholic neighbor harassment & violence

This is going to be really long, and I'm not sure if I have even posted this in the right place but we really need help! We moved into our apartment near our university in November 2016. While moving in, we met our next door neighbor, a 63 year old woman, and she seemed friendly enough. She told us that she was so glad we were moving in, because the woman who lived here before was insufferable, always complaining and calling the police for small things. My too-friendly boyfriend says, "If you need anything, let us know." Little did we know she would take full advantage of this statement later on. She first asks to bum a cigarette from my boyfriend, and asks her to go down to the convenience store for her and buy her a beer with money she would provide, since she notices that they drink the same kind. He complies, since he is already on his way. She quickly begins to ask for beer every few days, and then at 10am or 9am. It quickly becomes obvious that she has a drinking problem, and my boyfriend realizes that he needs to stop doing her favours, as he does not agree with feeding addictive behaviors. We notice her asking other neighbors that live in other apartments in the complex who do not know the situation and we decide to stay out of it. She seems to be bright eyed and sober for one day, and drunk as a skunk for the rest of the week. One day I come home from school and my boyfriend tells me that she has begun drinking since her husband died, and that she wants to quit badly. She says that her family wants her to go to rehab and that she is going to finally get sober. She leaves for 30 days, and when she finally returns, her knocks on our door and passing-by conversations stop. We do not see her for 10 days, but we know she is home. We finally see her after 10 days and smell alcohol on her immediately. Emergency services have already come twice in the middle of the night for her drinking issues (withdrawal and sickness). Every once in a while she asks for favors with her cell phone, and we helped her put up a screen door in her house.. but then suddenly we don't see her for a good 2 weeks. The 4th of July is when she breaks her quiet streak, and it's where the drama really starts. I am at work, and my boyfriend's father has come up for a visit. When I return home my boyfriend tells me that he heard a knock on the door a few hours ago. He opened it and our neighbor immediately started swinging at him, trying to barrel her way in the apartment. She yells, "You are a pussy!! You are an asshole!! She is a good girl, I heard you on the phone this morning at 5am!" My boyfriend was asleep next to me at 5, and her attack was so strange and unprovoked, though she was swaying drunk. She clocks him in the chin a few times and when he says he will call the cops, she shouts "Do it! They have been here before!" The cops take an hour to show up, and the first thing they say is "Do you really want us to do all this paperwork and arrest her?" It is clear that they do not care at all and just want to leave. I'm pretty sure it was because it was the 4th, or because they had been here before. All of the sudden we start to realize that there was probably a reason that the woman who lived here before called the cops so much. I hear her come by when my boyfriend is smoking a few hours after the incident, and she is sobbing her eyes out and holding a picture of her dead husband. She says she is sorry and she didn't mean it, and that she wants to walk in front of a car and kill herself. She came by later and told him she tried to hang herself. Now it is the 7th of July, and she has knocked on the door asking if everything is okay 4 times, and once to get my boyfriend's help to unlock her phone. It is clear that boundaries are clearly slipping, she is suicidal, the cops do not care at all and she has become a nuisance. My boyfriend is convinced that this is going to go downhill quickly and she will get violent again, and I agree. That's how these things tend to go. What resources do we have for help? Our apartment complex owner is 1 man with a crew, not a company. He is up to his eyeballs in work and I'm not sure if he will be any help. We emailed him yesterday out of concern and have yet to hear a response. TL;DR: Alcoholic neighbor knocks on our door constantly and had a meltdown on the 4th of July and attacked my boyfriend unprovoked, later apologized sobbing about her dead husband's anniversary death. She is suicidal and has no boundaries and we need help to get her help and making her back off. Edit: I'm in Washington state!

Make a report to Adult Protective Services

Is it considered tax evasion if I choose to be paid with food products?

[deleted]

Non-dollar income is still income, and not reporting it is tax evasion. [The IRS has got the situation covered](https://www.irs.gov/uac/bartering-income-the-value-of-property-or-services-you-receive). If you're using a bartering exchange, there's a 1099-B, otherwise you end up reporting it on 1099-MISC. That being said... when I was in grad school my neighbors were mostly on welfare and had a lot of time to fish. I had expertise in distilling. We worked it out.Answer #2: You can (generally) choose to be paid in whatever medium you choose. It's not tax evasion unless and until you don't declare the value of what you got on your return and then pay the appropriate amount of tax on that value.

[Hypothetical][US] If I wanted to sue /u/randomuser, how would I obtain his/her identity?

You would file a john doe lawsuit then subpoena the web site for any information about the user.

Weird old man grooming young college student, what can I do?

One of my friends is being groomed by a 62 year old man. He is charming and persuasive, gives off creepy vibes to me. But she absolutely adores him. He's been buying her gifts (including a new Nintendo Switch, jewelry, etc), showering her with praise, promising her trips and exotic vacations. Everything is textbook grooming- he's been on her for a while. Problem is, she just can't see it. I've been trying to keep tabs on her, but I found out recently she's moving in with him. I'm not only worried for her emotional and physical safety. But also the possibility of human trafficking. Unfortunately because she is an adult, there's a huge limitation on what can be done. How do I keep her safe?

You can tell her your concerns. That is it.

Laws on tenants having guests in subsidized housing? (NH)

Hey! So a friends of mine just stopped by and told me about her new apartment. She's had a really tough time the past few years (honestly, her entire life), she's on disability, and she qualifies for subsidized housing. The first place that came up is an all women's building. She shares a restroom with the tenant next door, but it's a pretty nice studio all things considered from the pictures she showed me. Then she told me that she can't have guests between the hours of 9 am and 9 pm. I may be totally wrong, but I thought the HUD states that there has to be reasonable accommodation for guests in subsidized housing. Obviously she signed a lease agreeing to these terms, but I was just curious about the legality of it all. She doesn't love that piece of it, but she said it's a small price to pay to be getting a rent reduction. She's also still on the list for section 8 so she can eventually get out of there, though in our city it may take years. So yea. If there's something she can do, great. If not, she's still happy. Thanks for any input! Edit: we live in NH. Edit: thank you to everyone who answered! You guys are awesome!

#MY TIME TO SHINE!! > I may be totally wrong, but I thought the HUD states that there has to be reasonable accommodation for guests in subsidized housing. You are totally wrong! There can't be a accommodation for something until someone asks for it. If your friend has a need for a guest she can ask. What is required is they review her request and grant it unless they can show it would be unreasonable. > though in our city it may take years. Thats every city! Except the ones no one wants live in! (reasons vary)

Forgot Item in store. Store won't replace item / in store credit / refund (MN)

I purchased a lot of equipment the other day at a store and accidentally left two items worth around $200 behind. I called as soon as I got home (an hour and a half away) and when I realized my mistake I called the store. They told me they would make it right the next day when I would be returning to pick up some skis I had in the shop. At the store they refused to do anything saying that they have no item records and cannot check to see if they have one too many of the items that I left behind, nor the ability to look at cameras. Is there anything can I do in this situation, or am I shit out of luck?

Contact your credit card company and see if they can do anything (charge back). If you paid cash then suing them is your only other option

[Arkansas] Do statutory rape laws apply to oral sex?

I think this is probably a pretty straightforward question. I was wondering if any of you knew if laws on statutory rape apply to oral sex as well. If needed, assume the girl is 15. Thanks!

Stop fulfilling stereotypes about Arkansas. This is my state too, damnit. Yes they do.

[New York] Got a notice from landlord saying they are switching to a new 'utility billing service'. I have been paying the utility company directly for 3 years. Can they do this?

Located in Ontario County NY Portion of my lease pertaining to utilities: http://imgur.com/K4Mff81 I pay water, electric, gas, and sewer. Apartment complex pays for cable and trash removal. The notice I received: http://imgur.com/9PymhCY For the three years I've lived in my apartment I've had an account with and gotten bills directly from RG&E and paid them directly for gas and electric. I also have an account in my name with WaterWatch corporation and pay them directly for water and sewer. According to this post, https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/56825n/mi_apartment_complex_transferred_my_electricity/ I don't think the landlord can dictate which utility provider (or billing service) I pay. The poster is in a different state from me, and my lease doesn't say that the utility accounts have to be in my name, so I'm not sure if that changes anything. I am going to call RG&E tomorrow and make sure my account is still active. If not, I will see if I can 'reopen' it and continue to pay RG&E, and also call WaterWatch. Is my understanding of my rights correct? Also, It's my understanding that the landlord has NOT broken the lease agreement, and I will NOT be breaking the lease agreement if I pay RG&E rather than their scummy utility management company. Thanks in advance for the help! UPDATE: Received a bill from AUM today (May 30th) for my June rent as well as Water and Sewer from 04/23/17 to 04/30/17. According to the notice posted above, payment is due by June 1st. No postmark on the envelope but the statement date is 05/25/17. Not much time to pay it! They didn't even say in the notice that I would be paying my rent through AUM, they just switched to some other service for my rent back in November(ish). ( EDIT: Looks like I'm NOT paying my rent through AUM: http://imgur.com/a/pjp7U I created an account on AUM's website and it says I still pay the old way?) Just checked my WaterWatch account where I used to get my water and sewer invoices, my login no longer works Just checked my lease, they are supposed to notify me in writing when changing where I send my rent payment: http://imgur.com/Dwn7qhw My autopay through the management company's website is still set up and still scheduled for June 1st. Also, just wanted to say again thank you to the people who have responded. I feel like I'm being screwed over with all these changes to how I pay for my home that I wasn't adequately notified about and of course the leasing office is closed for the day.

Are you month to month, or on an annual lease? If it's month-to-month the landlord can make certain material changes to the lease, but they have to provide notice (usually 30 or 60 days) and you'd have to agree to them in writing... he'd need your signature. Or you'd have to leave... If you have time left on a longer term lease, the terms of the lease can't be broken on a whim. When your lease is up they can make changes and have you sign a new lease, or it reverts to month-to-month, and it's what it is... It's possible, maybe likely, that not all residents are on the same terms are you are, but this letter was just sent to everyone. I'd contact the office and verify that your current lease is recognized and that you're not consenting to any changes. If you're on a month-to-month lease, they need provide you notice to end your current lease (varied by state, 30-60 day notice is common), and present a new lease with these terms spelled out is presented.