Lawyers.com Community

Phone Monitoring

Eugene2 — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:08:01 GMT

Do I have a legal right to listen in on conversations my kids have with anyone?

Many of you can see a lot of my posts about my ex causing stress and issues with our children and I. Calling police and DFS unfounded and she contimplated suicide ..... many other things to numerous to count.

I am trying my best to get along. I had a protection oreder against her. This even said when she could call. However when i renewed it she said it was hurting her that she could not talk to them when she wanted. So I said how about 8 pm each night call and say you love and miss them and they can go to bed knowing they talked to her.

Since the suicide attempt my 12 year old has totally flipped attitudes with me. Used to be daddy's boy and did all sports, was good in school and loved his time with dad. After mom did this, and he went to moms, he came hom telling me he wanted to move in with mom. ?????? He quit football, he got detentions in school which rarely ever got before three happend last week. I contacted an attorney for ideas. He stated modification is the only thing to stop her mental abuse.

I don't have 5000 dollars for his fees. Tonight she called, and I have him on antidepressent pills to cope with this. he has been doing good, then tonight she called and out of the blue he told his oldest brother tell dad the pills aren't working. SO to me, something was said in the conversation to trigger his change in security again.

DO I have a right to put the phone on speaker and let the kids talk to mom? The kids have said in the past that mom has told them since this happened that she wishes she would have killed herself because of how they acted. YOU Know that had to play on ther minds. Again I don't have 5K to get the attorney to help, at least not up front. I can put some but don't have near what he wants to fight this custody battle.

So do I have the legal right to listen to the coversation?

Thanks,

Wondering if there is hope......

losinghope2010 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:52:36 GMT

My name is Cristina and my two boys were taken away from me due to my boyfriend at the time beating my youngest and him ending up in the hospital in Ontario, Canada. I went through a lengthy court battle in Family Court , as well as, Criminal Court to prove I had nothing to do with his injuries. I was proven not guilty but b4 Family Court was over I signed over my boys till they are 18. I was fighting court and didn't have my own place or financial stability to fight for them at the time, so i put their interests first and gave them both really good homes. Now I am regretting what I did and am hoping someone can tell me whether or not I can have the Children's Aid Order overturned. Also if it can be overturned, how/what do I have to do to get my boys back.

Trying to get custody of my children from an abusive mother.

DonRadaR — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:08:08 GMT

I am a father of 4 total children 2 biological and 2 step-children. I have for the better part of 8 years tried to maintain the status quo against an abusive and agressive ex-wife. For years she has physically abused my children without stop and knows how to not leave marks. I recently called CPS and they have yet to do anything but expressed to me that " if I was a good parent" I would have done something prior to this or that I would force the court to give me a court date. I also took my child to the Police Department and they told me and the child that she can legally punch him in the face as long as she did not leave a mark. I desperately need to get my children away from her. I fear for there safety. things have gotten so bad my eldest has resorted to cutting himself and my youngest has asked me to keep his stuff when he dies. he is nine years old and it is killing me inside being unable to help him. i cant stand another day of him telling me his life will never get betterand that his life is over.

Can someone please help me figure out what I can do to help them!! The police and CPS have both, on several occasions, allowed her to do as she pleases. My children have lost faith in the law to help them.

thank you in advance forany help...

CONTRACTORS--COUNTIES--CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY LICENSING BOARD

bnkn93 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 21:03:28 GMT

1. May the county require certification of persons performing drywall installation on single-family residences, without regard to whether the person is supervised by another contractor?

2. What constitutes being "under the supervision of" for purposes of section 489.117(4)(d), Florida Statutes?

I was sited in Charlotte County for contracting without a certification. I was working directly for the GC on a single family home, I am comp exempt and have liability insurance and pay my taxes unlike most people on job sites I have been on. I normaly work in Sarasota county that does not require any license, but still work directly for a GC. Do I have good cause to fight this ? I have to appear in front of the board to dispute.

F.S. 489.117(d)

Landlord Threats with Ruining our Credit

JustWonderin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:11:46 GMT

I have a situation I would appreciate some input. I had a year lease that has now turned into a month to month. Landlord is not paying mortgage company despite my perfect payment record and bank began foreclosure. Beginning of this month landlord sent me an email wanting me out by the end of the month. Less than 30 days notice. Landlord threatened to place a negative entry on my credit report if I don't follow the instructions as outlined in the e-mail.

There have been an excessive amount of "traffic" in the house including bank people, realtors, prospective investors, appraisers and landlord's "representative" that feels that as long as they give me 24hr notice, they can come and have a look around. I have been accomodating and let them in, but some weeks it's 3-4 times and I am tired of it. Now I need to move and focus on finding a place, not cleaning the place for show condition.

What are my rights? Is an e-mail sufficient for notice? Can they place something on my credit that will prevent me from renting again or buying a house in the future?

Child Care Emergency Pick-Up Sheet

dad1231 — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:45:11 GMT

I have Joint Legal Custody with my ex-wife. My children have attended daycare since Jan.2009 at which time I supplied them with my own contact information and added my mother and sister to be able to pick up the children during MY TIME if I could not. My ex also had her own contact form on file,etc.

Situation: While picking up my children from daycare this week, I stopped by the office and asked if I needed to update my info for the new year. The head of daycare said "NO" you are on the EX's list as a person allowed pick up the children. However, you are not allowed to have an emergency list of your own because the mother is the Custodial Parent and she is the one that chooses whom may pick up the children regardless if its your time.

Question: is there standard guidelines to follow in this situation? It is not stipulated that she has control over whom may pick-up the children on my time,etc.

Thanks.

TX Child Paternity - Atty General Refuses to request P Test

bigj02274 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:08:10 GMT

My ex-girl friend accused me of being her daughters biological father 11 years ago, we both lived in TX when she was born and I signed the Birth Certificate beleiving that she was mine. I have been requesting a paternity test from the TX Attorney General for over 10 years and they refuse, and I have been paying child support and have had health insurance on her daughter. The Mom requested a modification of child support to increase my payments and I again requested a paternity test, which they again refused telling me that if I want one I will have to go to court myself and get a judge to order it. I have lived in GA the past 11 years and they live in TX, so I don't have the means to file in TX due to costs, and I am unsure of my rights and how to complete any forms. I have looked on line for forms for Paternity Testing and can't find anything, I need assistance in how to obtain forms and what steps I need to take to get a Paternity Test. I have no problem paying the child support, nor that they have increased the Child Support, however I want to be sure that I am paying for a child that is truely mine. She was also seeing another guy at that time that she is still with (per my daughter) and my fear is that they accused me as the father so they have additional income coming in. If someone could please advise me on the process and what I need to do, or if there is an attorney that can assist me (for very inexpensive). thank you. Also, my daughters Mom hid my daughter for 8 years and I couldn't find her. I sent an letter to the child support office 3 years ago expressing my concern for my daughter and that the mom was hiding her and I wanted to file contempt against her for abandoning her from me, that was when she finally allowed me to be a part of my daughters life.

Red Light Ticket

Marcusk417 — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:07:20 GMT

So last October I got pulled over for a failure to stop at a flashing red light. I got arrested on suspicion of DUI. I blew 0.00 in a breathalyzer and my drug test came back perfectly clean. I was wondering if a viable defense against the red light ticket would be that since the officer could not tell if I was intoxicated then how can not have made a mistake about the 3/4th stop at a red light. 107 people in Greene County, MO were arrested on DUI in October 2009 and 106 were charged so since I was the only one who was not charged I believe that this cop's mistake was a pretty big one so could it damage his competency/credibility. If it is not a good defense then I will plead no contest.

This was a case of profiling because the officer pulled me over leaving a college campus and his sergeant told me on the phone the next day that all College kids smoke dope and I would test positive, but I can't prove that.

bkforum.com

despritfreya — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 19:37:27 GMT

Does anyone on this forum also visit bkforum.com? If so, are you having problems accessing? I am. Web page is "blank". This has been so for past day and a half. Any info would be appreciated.

HIPAA violated

Dandi — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:08:08 GMT

Hi. I have a rather complicated case. I worked at a hospital and became ill and am now disabled. But during my work at the hospital, I often complained to my employer that something was wrong with me and I was being evaluated by several physicians. What they didn't know was that nearly all my medical care was at another hospital system, so there were no records at the University hospital where I worked. But I noticed the more I complained, the more hostile my work environment became. Then when I asked our HIPAA privacy officer to review who had been reviewing my medical records, a name of a physician came up that had never treated me. He looked at my University medical records, where no record of my illness was kept because I was being treated outside the University system. Coincidentally, I was let go of my job, lost my health insurance, became debilitated and am now disabled. Can I file a civil rights case against the hospital and the doc who looked at my records? The HIPAA privacy officer said she "investigated" the case by asking the doc if it was him, and he replied, "No, someone stole my login/password" and the hospital was satisfied with his response.

But what that doc did see were records from my breast-related issues. In addition, the surgeon at that office visit took topless photos of me for preop.

What the heck is wrong with all these people? Can I sue the doc and hospital for civil rights violation?

Age Discrimination

payrollfox — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:51:03 GMT

I was passed over for promotion to Supervisors. I (47) was one of 13 candidates who was interviewed and rank # 3 on the Best Qualified listing to the selecting Official. The selecting official selecting five employees under the age of 40. The oldest selectee was 11 years younger the me. And the youngest was 26 years younger. I was senior to all five selectees and had 27 years prior management experience in my previous job. The selecting official reviewed recommendation by supervisors and managers in making his decision. I did not receive recommendations for all raters. I received 7 recommendations and 6 non-recommendations and 2 no- opinion. the selecting offical assigned rating points to the recommendations and subtracted points from a final score if you were not recommendated. I recieved a 17 recommendation score. The selecting offical subtracted 14 points because of the 6-non recommendations. As a result I was ranked from #3 to #7. Only the top 5 were promoted. My agruement was that I was the only one who was adversly affected by the subtraction of points who had an opportunity at being promoted. Additionally I out qualified all the candidates. And the non-recommendations were not specific. I file an EEOC complaint weeks earlier for age discrimination. The supervisor stated in thier coments the following reason for not recommend me b:

1. Too combative

2. habitually sarcastic

3. Openly talks against management

4. Will not gain the respect of peers

5. Doesnt not take constructive critisim

6. Aggreessive and combative

I believe I was retaliated against based on these comments. I feel the selecting Offical manipulated the point system to promote younger candidates. And I believe that the statements made were not specific and can not be supported. My pass performance is excceed standards and I have no discipliany actions on file.

The Agency produced a document I recieved 3 years prior for Guidance and Directions from a supervisor I had conflict with back in 2006. The letter was not disciplanary but stated some deroagatory comments that Agency believes supports the non-selection in 2009.

I am repersenting myself in this case because I can't find and attorney to repersent me. Do you think I have a case of age discrimination.

hoop

shashi00 — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:24:33 GMT

The initiative taken for the concern is very serious and need an
attention of every one. This is the concern which exists in the
society and needs to be eliminated from the society as soon as
possible.
--------

New Real Estate

school and civil righs

tonya372010 — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:30:47 GMT

Does the school have the right to make a child wear a badge with their full name and photo and it has to be visible at all times and theyre under 18 in a public school tell me what you think. if thay do not they can be kicked out of school

Question on Statue of Limitations on Debt owed to DMV

NQuinteros — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:13:15 GMT

I need some help on an issue which dates back 23 Years!! I lived in New Jersey 23 yrs ago and they charged surcharges on there residents of points on there license. Well I moved out of the state to Virginia and lived here ever since.

I received a letter from DMV stating that I need to take care of the suspension in NJ or be suspended. Well a hell of a surprise today when I called NJ DMV, I will hate to find out what that debt is after 23yrs tomorrow. I was no longer a resident of NJ and was asked to turn over my license when I moved to VA so why should I have to pay surcharges when I am no longer a resident? Isn't there a statue of limitations on a debt like this, especially after 23 yrs???

Help ! Insurance company won't pay ?!?

rickbmb — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:37:52 GMT

I was in an accident on july 12, a huge truck backed into me at a red light, he stopped too close the the intersection and decided to back up into me. I exchanged infos with the dirver. I phoned my insurance the next day to tell them about the accident ( I have one way coverage only). They told that all they can do i put me in touch with the other party's insurance.

The truck that hit me is owned by a large, nationwide company. I contacted their insurance co. but they told me the a guy who works for the trucking company handles all their claims and they gave me his contact infos. I called that guy, he said no problem, get 2 estimates of the damages and send the lowest one to me along with pics and infos of your vehicle, so I did just that, one estimate was 1900$, the second was 2400$.

This is when things went south, after I sent him the estimate, he started to ignore me. Doesn't pick up the phone, doesn't return phone calls. I called 50+ times in the last 5 weeks and left many voicemails as well as messages with the receptionist, this guy just refuses to talk to me.

I tried again first thing this morning and this time he answered, said he's been really busy, will pull out my file and call me back in 10min for sure. Never called back and I tried calling a bunch more times today, won't pick up. Left a voicemail again.

I'm getting really frustrated, often I asked the receptionist if he is in the office and they always tell me that he is and they gave him my message.

I also talked to the insurance company and they said they can't do anything, I have to deal with that guy.

I'm extremely frustrated and don't know what to do. I live in Calgary,Ab and I believe that guy is in Winnipeg so Its a long distance call everytime I try to reach him. Really had it now.

Lease issues between roommates

LJD3705 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:51:19 GMT

Guy and girl live together with both names on a 1 year lease. Since the girl has very little money, the guy pays the rent every month. They have a falling out. To "keep the peace", the guy moves out. He wants to "break the lease" in a legal manner by giving notice and paying whatever fees the landlord requires (30 day notice and 1 month penalty in this case).

From the small claims court perspective.....

Scenario 1) The girl, having no place to go, decides she won't cooperate and vacate early. Can the girl reasonably claim that since the guy paid the rent without her help for the the first 6 months, that he must continue to pay "her share" for the next six months, even though they are no longer in relationship?

Scenario 2) The girl agrees to leave at the end of the 30 day notice. Would any rental charges now be considered to be shared equally from that date foward and therefore the girl would be responsible for 50% of the rent from the date the guy moved out?

Scenario 3) Despite the fact that the guy paid the rent the entire time, but since she is on the lease, can the guy legally claim that she owes him half of the rent that he paid. After all, she is on the lease.

Note: These questions are not for the obligation to the landlord because I do understand that part of it. This is more for their obligations to each other to share the expenses of their joint lease.

And for the record, no verbal or written roommate agreements were ever entered into that addressed any of this.

Criminal complaint, no arrest

kpick — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:26:01 GMT

I recently found myself between a spat between a friend and his girlfriend in his vehicle. She hit him and his blood ended up on her. I ended up driving her and left him. We ended up arguing about this situation because I pointed out that their child was present. Becoming more physical we exited the vehicle (scuffling). She got back in the vehicle and drove away.

She then filed a criminal complaint. Points of the complaint are; Attempted kidnapping, Assault and Larceny.

No arrest was made of me.

I feel she is trying to protect him by accusing me. Her boyfriend has a past record of similar incidents.

There is a hearing date set. Should I expect this complaint to move forward without witness', arrest and lack of evidence? This is in Massachusetts.

custody in AZ warning a long one

milsurplus79 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:51:12 GMT

It seems the general forum is the most likely place I have to place this. Any advice would be great. My girlfriend and I are fighting a custody battle against her parents, the child is not mine, but I will do everything I can to help her with this. A little background, her parents are very and I stress very well off, when the baby was first born they were financialy their for her, even provided her with an apartment. Well her parents had problems with her, mainly and this is insane, she refuses to raise her child jahovas whitness, They decided to call CPS and report her for neglect, CPS found nothing wrong, and recomended she did not alow her parents to see the child, a few days later she found the locks to her apartment had been changed "her dad" So she moved in with her boyfriend at the time , the babys father,they claimed she was homeless and living in her car, Well im going on , and on, but basicly they claim neglect, their was none, they claim drugs, and she does not do drugs, they claim mental disorders , her theripist says she is fine., but her parents are wealthy, and she is not.. We have seen many Lawyers , and when they read the paperwork on the case they point some things being done are against the law, and that she should have her child till proven unfit to raise her, yet her parents have her right now, they also say they need 3500.00 or more to start working on the case. We refuse to give up, we just have no idea how to get representation, lawyers dont take payments it seems. Any advice would be great.

Unfinished business

Dawn1950 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:21:22 GMT

My former husband is trying to sue me for items, etc he says I took from our home prior to the divorce (which was over one year ago). The former husband wants to be reimbursed for (trivial) items such as toothpicks, paper towels; cash; a roll of stamps; a ream of computer paper; an electric shaver; bathroom towels, coffee grinder,etc. he says I took from our home when I left him. He gets pleasure suing people in small claims court. Although I haven't received any court papers yet and therefore don't know if the documents are coming from family court or small claims court I thought I'd ask the question here. Can the former spouse take me to small claims court over matrimonial issues which the husband says have not been resolved? He wants to be reimbursed for over $2000.00 worth of things he says I have not returned to him?

Also, I have not been served. A letter came to my former residence and a kind former neighbor is forwarding it to me. If I'm being sued.....don't I have to be served?

Thank you in advance for any opinions.

Being sued in small claims court

kralco626 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:25:43 GMT

I'm being sued in small claims court by an ex-roomate of mine. It's only for around $500 dollars but I still want to win because I dont want a judgement on my credit report. It's a damaged laptop. He claims around $500 for repair costs.

He claims the laptop was damaged while he was on a weekend vacation and I was the only one in the room. He has pictures of the damage and "after shots" of the way he "claims" the room looked before he left and the way he found it when he came back. He claims things were moved in including a brick that he claims fell off of a uppershelf on his desk and fell on his laptop. (Yes he kept a brink above his laptop, stupid right?) Note: This was in a college dorm, there was only one room that we both shared.

I don't have too much to say in my defence, because i'm not sure what i'm supposed to defend. All I can say was I was not really in the room much at all, my girlfriend lived down the hall and I spent all my time there. She's willing to testify that I was there every night that weekend, although i'm not sure how much that will help. (His theory is that his alarm clock went off in the middle of the night and in trying to turn it off I damaged his laptop)

I'm not sure what to say. I don't have any clue what happened, I was hardly in the room and I certinly did not damage any of his property. I feel as though while he came up with a interesting theory I don't really see the proof. He told someone after he found the damage and as I said has pictures of it, but that doesnt prove when it happened, or that I did it.

I feel as though he has no proof that the damage happened that weekend, or that I did it at all.

How do I defend myself from this claim that I had nothing to do with! I don't want my credit score, that I have worked very hard to keep clean, to be blemished by this.

Oh ya, the court time is in 7 hours so any quick tips would be helpful!

Thanks!

working a deal

Tim B — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:37:35 GMT

I have a question. A woman's father just passed away recently and she is the executor of his estate. The father owned a house that was left vacant for a few years while he battled an illness. The daughter now wants to sell the house and I want to buy it.

The owner owes back taxes dating back several years, and there is also a mortgage on the home. The woman is willing to hold the paper for me on this purchase. I can only give her a small amount of cash as a down payment and then pay her the balance of the selling price in monthly installments. The cash down is no where near enough to get the back taxes current and/or even pay off the existing mortgage.

She has mentioned that she would let me take possession of the house and start making payments to her that would be applied to the selling price, but the house needs repairs and I don't want to put a nickle into it until I have clear title.

What kind of a deal can I present to the seller that will make her happy and also provide me with clear title. I'm in the mind set of treating this as a typical purchase; a down payment and monthly installaments (mortgage) and having clear title but because of the existing mortgage and back taxes its nothing close to that. She is willing to make the existing mortgage payments but how could this work for me with that lien over the property?

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Tim

4d107384-f81c-4f43-911b-3d11ac643b60 1.03.01

Forced to work with drunk co-worker

kisper0577 — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:58:51 GMT

Co-worker was obviously intoxicated--smell, inappropriate behavior with customers. I was told by my manager to "watch" the person carefully so they did not "mess up" any jobs.

Called district manager and left message. No response.

Calling HR next.

Keeping notes in case of retaliation, etc.

What else do I do?

Is there a law suit here?

Some advice please (HIV termination)

NCSU2000 — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:59:57 GMT

OK, my story is a long story but I will try to make it as short as possible without leaving out too much info./details.

I live in NC, and in 2008 had some legal problems. I was accused of not disclosing my HIV status to several people. Now funny thing is I DID NOT ever sleep with these people, my name just came up as a way to "get back at me". Long story short the Public Health Dept here ran with it and I ended up being made an example of and splashed all over the news outlets (TV & Print). Needless to say this was devastating to me mentally, emotionally and otherwise. I was placed on 6 months house arrest and probation. the charge was a "public health misdemeanor".

I got a job in April working at a fast food establishment (a well known chain owned locally by a franchisee). Things were going fine (they were happy with me, good worker etc --never written up or verbally counseled) until early July. I was told by a manager that "somebody" was calling the restaurant and franchisee office stating "that homo with HIV works there you will be sorry" among other nasty things. My boss asked me to speak to her on July 7th. I was told by her that I "lied on my application regarding criminal history"..and "we and the boss have been getting calls regarding your health status and we cannot have that...so we need to let you go". I was stunned and told her I had not lied (application asks for FELONY charges only) but she was adamant. I also stated how there is NO way anyone could get anything from me...and besides I didnt even work touching the food.

I filed a claim with my local EEOC office and they said they would investigate. Well, a week ago I got a letter from the franchisee. The letter offered my job back and back pay and said the staff would be trained on how to handle certain sensitive health matters. It went on to say how my health was my business and blah blah. The last line was "this letter and offer in no way admits any wrong doing on the part of the employer"..HAHA right. I had until Sept 3 to answer, needless to say I ignored them.

The EEOC rep. told me she has spoken to them and said they do NOT want this to go to court and want to settle. My question is what is my best course of action and also what is a good amount to throw out to them as a settlement?. I feel they know they are in the wrong and are afraid I will take this matter to court.

marry international student from different state

infteiv — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 03:02:06 GMT

I'm currently living in Florida and I met an international from Pennsylvania during her road trip down here. She's on F1 visa attending school in PA. We plan to get marry soon. What is the process to obtain green card. Since we live in different state, is there going to be any problem in process. If we are approved, can she stop school for 1 year since Florida school requires a person to be resident at least one year in order to get in-state tuition? any help/comment would be greatly appreciate.

Does anybody here use www.bkforum.com?

adviceplz — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 01:32:52 GMT

I think the website is not operating correctly. I tried to sign up and am allowed to login. However, I never got an email confirmation to activate my account.

I continually try to email the moderators, but no response.

I think their site is down for new members, but they don't realize it because old members can still post.

Does anybody belong to that forum, if so, can you PLEASE email the moderators telling them new members are not able to activate accounts and cannot post.

Thank you a ton!