I am a Marine that was just stationed in Quantico, VA. My wife lives in Indiana and has a lease on an apartment that isn't up until may of 2...

Question

I am a Marine that was just stationed in Quantico, VA. My wife lives in Indiana and has a lease on an apartment that isn't up until may of 2014. She is moving here with me, but we really don't want the added pressure of paying the $545 a month for the apartment. We have heard there is a way for military members and their spouses to get out of leases due to moving on military orders. The problem is that my name isn't on the lease because we were not married when she signed it.

Answer

Yes, virtually all U.S. states have a provision for early release from a rental lease for active duty military personnel but whether such would apply to your wife's situation as a current resident of Indiana but married to an active duty military spouse whose duty station is now in Virginia but who is not on the wife's lease is unclear, but it would depend upon what Indiana law may have to say about this issue rather than the law of the Commonwealth (in my opinion).

I would therefore suggest that you repost this question under the category of Indiana landlord-tenant law to determine what an Indiana attorney might offer as an opinion regarding this particular issue.

My mother owns two houses about 1/4 mile from each other. About 5 years ago we made a living arrangement to have Myself wife and two kids li...

Question

My mother owns two houses about 1/4 mile from each other. About 5 years ago we made a living arrangement to have Myself wife and two kids live at one of the homes. In lieu of paying rent we assist her with her daily chores, errands, etc.

She's elderly and has several health issues. Two years ago she was diagnosed with chirrosis of the liver. About six months ago her condition worsened and she assigned my brother to be Power of Attorney for financial purposes in the event she became incapacitated. Six weeks after my brother served me and my family wth eviction papers. My mother knew nothing about this and was very upset. She told him to stop the eviction asap. He said he did. However i recieved another notice of the eviction and he sent four notices, three of which were in public view and another he sent to my wife's work, where personal mail is first inspected prior to delivery to the employee. I informed my mother an she again told him to stop and that i was to remain living at the property. He brushed it off and again did nothing. During this time her health was getting worse. She said she would revoke the POA if he didnt stop the eviction. On Oct 1, 2013 she sufferred a severe hemmorrage of the asophogus and nearly died. She was released afer two weeks and sent home. We are her full time caretakers so it was extremely important he abide by her request as 24hr care was needed. She lost some ability to communicate properly at this time but was NOT incapacitated. A few weeks later a nurse ordered herback to the hospital due to her looking jaundice. She was admitted for more tests. Her condition worsened. She had told me to ignore any notices because she was not evicting me and said not to worry. A week later i got a 5 day notice from the sherriff to vacate the property due to a default judgement in court. I told my mother in the hospital what occurred and she was furious. While there my brother visited. She ordered him to stop it again and he told her "no". It's too late and te sherriffs would be there in a few days to remove us. She told my aunt and other family members what SHE wanted and to tell him. A week prior she also wrote a written statement with the details and signed it. On November 20, 2013 the sherriff came and evicted us. I went to the hospital to inform my mom and the nurse said she became very sick and was sleeping. I couldn't wake her up as she appeared to have taken something to make her sleep. I never seen her in this condition. The sherrif said ifshe could go with me to the police dept with id tha could stop the eviction. That was impossible since she was extremely ill. He's now trying to clean up and sell the house. Now my mom is in a semi coma state and has been sent to a hospice facility. She has only days left and is now incapacitated. She never had a chance to revoke the POA and now she's dying and were homeless and staying with friends temporarily. The whole family is shocked and disgusted at the timing of what he did. Heartless and cruel to say the least.

I'm set to inherit 1/3 of the house i was just kicked out of when she dies. I'm listed in the will and the family trust as a beneficiary to inherit this plus two other properties she owns. Being that i'll own 1/3 of the house very soon, what rights do i have? She's still alive but in a coma state....Please help.

Answer

You are advised to obtain the services of a probate/trust litigation attorney to sort through these issues and start the necessary conservatorship proceedings of your mother and her estate immediately.

Answer

I certainly agree with Victor. You can not solve these problems on this forum. You need to immediately hire counsel with espertise in trusts and estates.

Am I eligible to take driving school in FL to not have points on my license if my license is through PA? My ticket was issued in FL

Question

Am I eligible to take driving school in FL to not have points on my license if my license is through PA? My ticket was issued in FL

Answer

Yes you can do that. However, it is ultimately up to PA to decide what to do with a withhold of adjudication, but GENERALLY speaking most states will respect that withhold and not impose points in your home state.

I own a co op and today was yearly fire inspection provided by a company and required by fire marshal. On this day, I let in the inspector a...

Question

I own a co op and today was yearly fire inspection provided by a company and required by fire marshal. On this day, I let in the inspector and when I turned around a board member came walking in. She began to look around questioning me on my home and I asked her to leave and she refused. I don't think this was an option for her to enter without me letting her in nor was it an option for her to stay when asked to leave.

Answer

She committed trespass to realty. This is a breach of the proprietary lease. You can sue for this, though it's hard to predict how little you will recover. I would not take this case on a contingent fee basis, though I would not doubt that you have a valid lawsuit.

My daughter has a background check for a licensing exam being held up do to legal issues she has had in the past although she has no reporte...

Question

My daughter has a background check for a licensing exam being held up do to legal issues she has had in the past although she has no reported convictions.

What can we do to free this up since it has been over 30 days

Answer

If by 'no reported convictions' you mean she had a conviction expunged, this is not going to 'clear up', as the conviction still exists on her record and was supposed to be fully disclosed by her to the licensing agency. Failure to do so is 'perjury' and 'resume fraud' which will likely result in licensing denial by the agency.

If you mean that there is some actual 'error' in the record, then an attorney may be able to help correct and clear the problem through the court or with the reporting service.

If you want to hire counsel to help, feel free to contact me.

If I am living on a piece of land and the name on the deed is the name of a deceased person, is it legal for another party which is in no wa...

Question

If I am living on a piece of land and the name on the deed is the name of a deceased person, is it legal for another party which is in no way related to the deceased to collect rent from or evict me?

Answer

No. You don't owe him anything.

How exactly did you determine who is the owner of the property? Did you do a title search?

I was just contacted by a law firm that said the state of georgia is gonna file charges against me for writing bad checks. I got a loan from...

Question

I was just contacted by a law firm that said the state of georgia is gonna file charges against me for writing bad checks. I got a loan from a payday loan company in 2004 when i lived in buffalo and failed to pay ut back because i lost my job at the time. But im being charged i. Georgia. Is this possible.

Answer

That sounds very suspicious. In order for the State to take out a warrant against you for bad checks, the creditor has to send you a very specific letter within a certain period of time. If you never got such a letter, and are only receiving phone calls, look up the law firm to see if anyone else has been scammed in this method, and do not pay anything. If they call again, tell them to send you something in writing to that you can take it to a lawyer to look it over. On the other hand, if this deals with checks written very recently, go and see a lawyer and give them the details to find out whether there are any steps you need to take to get rid of it.

Answer

This could be a scam. It probably is. A 2004 bad check cannot likely be prosecuted in 2013. See a local lawyer to be safe.

Answer

Law firms do not contact you to tell you that bad check charges will be filed. That is not how the criminal system works. Instead, the police just show up and take you into custody. But for bad check charges to be filed, the person who received the bad check (usually a merchant) must write to you. If you do not pay then the district attorney will write you a letter if there is a worthless check program in the county. Neither of these scenarios involve a lawyer calling.

That is because real lawyers seldom call debtors unless they have a debt collection wing staffed by non-attorney debt collectors. The debt collection lawyers I know send a letter and if the debtor does not pay then they sue civilly. So I doubt very much that it is a real lawyer calling. It is a payday lender or debt collector impersonating a lawyer or its a scam.

Next time they call, write down the number and ask them if they are an attorney for their bar number and state of admission. If they give it to you, all states have bar associations and you can look up the lawyer. My guess is that if they are a real law firm or lawyer they will give you the information but they will probably hang up.

This might be a scam but more probably it is an overseas payday lender trying to scare you. First, payday loans are virtually illegal in GA and if the payday lender tried to press charges against you they might end up being the ones prosecuted.

I wrote a brief article on payday loans generally and specifically on GA law: http://www.rachelhunterlaw.com/articles/article_9_Pay_DAY_Lending.html

Read it; it should answer your questions.

I am not licensed in NY but I am willing to bet that (a) the statute of limitations has expired; and (b) that NY has a similar law regarding payday loans in that they are either totally illegal or else they come with stringent requirements; if the requirements are not met or the loans are illegal, the most you would have to pay back is the principal borrowed and maybe the statutory rate of interest. Further, you cannot be prosecuted in GA for a NY loan. If a crime was committed, it would have been committed in NY.