Ideas to improve the standard of living for those earning under $18,000 in the U.S.?
saw an extremely thought provoking episode of oprah in which she was discussing the 30M people in the U.S. earning under $18,000, yet working tirelessly to make ends meet. was very surprised to hear of people in positions such as paramedics and lab technicians earning less than $10 per hour and unable to provide properly for their families (one woman profiled was living temporarily in a homeless shelter). raising the min wage will help, but even at roughly 2x where the min wage is today, health care costs are oftentimes enough to break the bank of most hourly earners. curious to hear potential solutions, partcularly from professionals in gov't or economics.
Can I break my rental lease due to very unsatisfactory living conditions?
I have only lived here for 3 months, and the A/C has broke 3 times. It didnt even work when I moved in. There is a massive roach infestation, they are literally crawling all over my stove when I cook, I have seen them crawl into my coffee pot, and into the seal on my fridge. The bathtub and toilet backed up so bad it sent all kidn of garbage and debris into the tub. The place is a DUMP, but mostly due to poor magnament. I have called to the point that they are sick of hearing from me, to get pest control and the a/c man out. it took them 2 1/2 weeks to fix the A/C the last time it broke (try living in Florida in July without A/C! Forget about it. we spent those days at our friends house) I really need to move into a new place, I dont want to move but I cant live with roaches and broken appliances. It will never change. Can these reasons help me to break the lease?
Can I sue my landlord for negligence if I and a housing inspector reported that the bathroom sink needed fixing and they didn’t fix it? It fell on me causing minor head injuries and a lot of back pain.
Anyone can sue anybody for anything at any time, it doesn't mean you will win. It could back fire and see you LOSE BIG TIME. Their are many questions with your scenario: 1) Who caused the damage and when, 2) Was this defective bathroom sink in this same condition before you moved in? 3) Was this documented as such? 4) If in this condition before you moved in, WHY did you move in? 5) If the sink wasn't defective from the start, was the landlord notified in writing of this damage when it happened? 6) Why do you feel the landlord is responsible for the repair if you caused the damage? 7) Why do you feel the landlord is responsible for your injuries if you caused this damage? My guess is, the damaged bathroom sink wasn't so before you moved in thereby showing the damage thereof can be attributed to you, a family member or guest. As such, you are responsible for the COST of the repair (most landlords won't allow tenants to perform repairs as it isn't in the landlord's best interest, property and liability wise). If the sink WAS in poor condition when you moved in and didn't document same, you have a long road ahead of you to prove anything and you will most likely lose. 8) In what dire situation did you find it necessary to put yourself under a bathroom sink that you knew was defective? I see many red flags with this when your question starts with SUEING the landlord as I'm sure any respectable attorney and judge will given the facts (or lack thereof) that you provided. Being a landlord, I have seen and beat this type of 'negligence' accusation, even to the extent of the tenant involving the housing inspector(s) to bolster the claim and to withhold / falsely acquire a 'reason' to withhold the rent. As such, I wish to keep myself from providing identity to prevent future claims.
If my tenant damages a neighboring property am I liable?
A2AYou should always insist that your tenant carry renters insurance.Obviously, unless they are someone for whom you have power of attorney, because they are disabled or otherwise unable to care for themselves, you might be responsible. For example, perhaps you have a disabled son as your tenant.If that’s not the case, then what matters is whether or not you were aware of the tenants actions in violation of the lease, and didn’t give them notice to quit or correct.You may also be aware of improper disposal of their cigarettes, if you permitted smoking to occur in violation of the lease.Typically, however, it takes a lot of effort to make a landlord liable for a tenants actions, rather than the tenant themselves being liable.As others have suggested: let the neighbor fight it out with the insurance company: yours, and theirs. The claim will most likely be denied, unless it’s filed against your tenant’s renter’s insurance, otherwise it’s more likely that your neighbor’s insurance will have to cover it, and the company may end up suing your tenant.
Can you sue a school for negligence?
It depends on several factors.First off, are you of legal age to BRING a suit, or are you still underage?Second, can you PROVE that whatever the school did (or didn't) do, it was not something that they already have a policy in place to cover, IF you, or the child in question had been following the directions covering the situation, or was this a “Nobody tells me what to do” kind of thing?Third, how good a lawyer have you got, because every school I know has access to LOTS of good attorneys, on retainer.Fourth, how much time do you intend to devote to this, because the aforementioned attorneys will stall with all their might as long as they possibly can, that's their job.Bearing all that in mind, make sure you have a rock-solid case before you file, because if you lose, they tend to countersue on the basis that you made the school look bad.Make sure that you want to take all that on before you act.
Is my landlord responsible for stolen property after a break-in if the door lock was faulty?
You would have a very hard time getting a court to find liability on the landlord’s part for your loss.The only possible chance is if you can establish negligence on the part of the landlord. You’d need to have have clear proof that the lock was not in this condition when you executed your lease, that after the failure you had made the landlord aware of the condition, and that the landlord had failed to repair the lock in a reasonable period of time. Even then, claiming negligence is shaky.If you can establish negligence, you would also need to prove that access was gained through the door because the lock was faulty. Unless there is this proof, it would be very easy to establish reasonable doubt by arguing that someone could have tailgated someone else into the building, it was propped open when someone was moving, or maybe it was another building tenant that stole the property.Lastly, you were encouraged, if not outright warned, in your lease agreement to insure yourself and you failed to do so. I suggest you get it because it’s generally under $10/month and the most important aspect will probably never be insuring your property, but the liability protection it provides. If you make a mistake, like leaving a pot on the stove and causing a fire, you could find yourself with 100s of thousands of dollars worth of liability for destruction of other people’s property.There may still be hope:I’m going to make an assumption that the thing that was stolen was something that was delivered by the USPS or other package delivery service and left in the entry hall. If you didn’t sign a release authorizing them to leave it without signature, the delivery service is likely to be liable. How would you know if it was left and subsequently stolen or if the delivery driver lost it? Contact the shipper and try filing a claim against the delivery service for your loss.Good luck, I hope you get some resolution.
Can I sue my landlord or the termite and pest control company for the robbery?
Law suites are common in today's society, weather they have merit or not. In order to be successful in the filing of a lawsuit you would need proof. Some courts would accept circumstantial evidence as proof. Depending on the amount of your lose would determine what court you would be required to file your law suit through. In most cases, if your law suite does not exceed financial dames less than $10,000 you would be required to sue in small claims court. Above this amount you would be required to sue in Superior court and would need to obtain the services of an attorney. In most instances, you would be compensated by your renters insurance for any financial loss. This would prevent a law suite. You should inform the State Department of the loss of your passport, and obtain another. Inform the Social Security department of the loss of your social security card to find out if there are things you would need to do. You might make contact with you bank and credit card issuers to find out if there is any action you would need to take in this regards. I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck. "FIGHT ON"
Tenant enters into a lease with Landlord that requires Tenant to pay $500.00 per month rent and to keep the pr?
The tenant moved out. When that happened their obligations ended. They were supposed to notify the landlord, but obviously, he knew when he got a check from a different person. It was the new tenant paying, correct? So when he accepted that check he ended the deal with the old tenant who wasn't supposed to assign? I guess that means sublet but I dunno. And by accepting that check he entered into a new agreement with the new tenant which unless otherwise stated is for the amount of the rent he accepted plus to obey all civil and criminal codes. He didn't go over there, his mistake, and find out what was going on, confront the new tenant, sign an agreement and request they insure the place, if that's even legal to request they insure the place. It really make NO SENSE to have a tenant insure a property anyway. Insurance is the responsibility of the property owner, not the renter. Landlords have property and landlord insurance which covers their property and responsibility, and tenants have rental insurance which only covers their own stuff. So unless the fire was arson or some sort of criminal act, the landlord is responsible for repairing his property at his expense. If the condition of the place caused the fire, he is liable for the tenant's losses as well. If it was just an accident and there is no liability issues, the tenant would be responsible for replacing their own losses.
Is it true that a criminal who broke into your house can sue you if they trip over something and get injured?
Depends on the State, but not usually. In Texas, for example, the Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 86 prohibits recovery of damages by a claimant if the tort (injury) arose from the commission of a misdemeanor or felony by the claimant or by a convicted person on whose behalf the claimant is filing suit. This generally covers the homeowner for the situation you state where a burglar breaks into the home and then hurts himself tripping over something in the house.By filing the suit, the person who broke into your house must identify themselves and the time and place of their injury. They must swear that all that information is true and correct. Now, they’re in a Catch-22; they have just admitted, on a sworn document, to unlawful entry into your home. If they stand by that statement they’ll be convicted of breaking and entering based on their own confession, and then will be unable to recover damages because the injury occurred while committing a crime for which they were convicted. If they recant the information in the complaint, then they no longer have any standing to sue you, and that’s also perjury since by recanting they admit by definition that they lied on a sworn document.In addition, Chapter 83 of the same code specifically provides immunity from civil lawsuit for personal injury or death caused by the justified use of deadly force as defined in Chapter 9 of the Penal Code, which among other things allows a person to use deadly force if it is immediately necessary to prevent imminent commission of burglary, robbery, nighttime theft or nighttime vandalism. So even if a plaintiff claiming injury damages for being shot breaking into the defendant’s home is never convicted of that crime, the homeowner is immune from suit if he can show he was justified in shooting.