Originally Printed: May 18, 2005
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. My daughter ran away with her drug-dealing boyfriend about a month ago. She left her 16-month-old baby with my husband and I and we have no idea of her whereabouts. It is incredible that we are left with total responsibility for her little boy. However, we want to make sure that she does not come back to pick up this child, only to have him around drugs and bunch of drug addicts. What should we do?
A. This theme comes back on a regular basis. You need to file a Petition for Guardianship with the County court in order to become guardians of this child. An investigation will be conducted by a court-appointed probate investigator to ascertain who would be first choice to become substitute parent(s) to the child. The Court often appoints grandparents as guardians of children left behind by drug-addicted parents. Once you are found to be fit as guardians, the Court will not allow a drug-addicted mother to again be responsible for her child until she cleans up her act. A guardianship is often temporary, until at least one parent of the child undergoes drug rehabilitation and can safely take responsibility for his/her child, but it also sometimes becomes a permanent arrangement. Drugs have become the scourge of today’s society and have affected hundreds of thousands of children across the world. They are the true victims. You are very brave to be willing to take care of this little boy and hopefully, your daughter will be thankful for what you have done for her son.
Q. I have a satellite dish to connect to the Internet, which promised immediate access, but is actually slower than dial-up. I constantly have to call in because have problems with connectivity. They charge an arm and a lef for the service, with which I am totally dissatisfied. I had to pay $700 for the dish. I want money back. Can I?
A. It is doubtful but it depends if you had a warranty and how long ago you had it installed on your property. Your story sounds so familiar. In fact, I went back to a dial-up connection because I was tired of paying $65 a month for this so-called “really fast connection”. Satellite dish is highly affected by the weather unfortunately, and of course customers are never told about these problems ahead of time. You best bet is to give your satellite company notice that you want to stop their “bad” service and find another way to connect to the Internet. Good luck!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Legal Eaze #21 Pregnant/ Collections Agency
Originally Printed: May 4, 2005
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 18 years old. My parents like him and do not want to press charges against him. My parents and I are worried that the hospital staff at the hospital I go to when it is time to give birth will call the police on my boyfriend. Can the hospital staff do that? Or it is up to my parents?
A. My understanding of criminal law is that no one goes forward with a criminal filing unless there is a complaining victim. Mandated reporting is for child abuse only, not for impregnation of a minor, even if in violation of statutory rape laws. Please note that I am a “civil” general practitioner and only handle minor criminal matters. You would be best served by asking an attorney who handles criminal matters of all kinds.
Q. There is a man from a collection agency who keeps calling me with regards to an old debt dating back over 10 years ago. I have told him to leave me alone but he keeps bothering me at home. Somehow, he found out my boyfriend’s telephone number and he calls me there as well. It is legal for this collection agency to keep calling me like this?
A. I believe the Statute of Limitations on the debt may have expired. This collection agency can no longer collect on the debt. If you had a written contract with regards to this debt, the Statute of Limitations expired four years after you entered the contract, or four years after you made the last payment on the debt, whichever comes later. If you did not have a written contract, then two years is the applicable Statute of Limitations period. The collection agency may be liable for unfair debt collection practices and it would behoove you to take down the name, address and telephone number of this collection agency so that you can obtain court redress at a later date. It would be difficult for you to sue a collection agency if you do not know its name and contact information.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. I am 16 years old and pregnant. My boyfriend is 18 years old. My parents like him and do not want to press charges against him. My parents and I are worried that the hospital staff at the hospital I go to when it is time to give birth will call the police on my boyfriend. Can the hospital staff do that? Or it is up to my parents?
A. My understanding of criminal law is that no one goes forward with a criminal filing unless there is a complaining victim. Mandated reporting is for child abuse only, not for impregnation of a minor, even if in violation of statutory rape laws. Please note that I am a “civil” general practitioner and only handle minor criminal matters. You would be best served by asking an attorney who handles criminal matters of all kinds.
Q. There is a man from a collection agency who keeps calling me with regards to an old debt dating back over 10 years ago. I have told him to leave me alone but he keeps bothering me at home. Somehow, he found out my boyfriend’s telephone number and he calls me there as well. It is legal for this collection agency to keep calling me like this?
A. I believe the Statute of Limitations on the debt may have expired. This collection agency can no longer collect on the debt. If you had a written contract with regards to this debt, the Statute of Limitations expired four years after you entered the contract, or four years after you made the last payment on the debt, whichever comes later. If you did not have a written contract, then two years is the applicable Statute of Limitations period. The collection agency may be liable for unfair debt collection practices and it would behoove you to take down the name, address and telephone number of this collection agency so that you can obtain court redress at a later date. It would be difficult for you to sue a collection agency if you do not know its name and contact information.
Legal Eaze #20 Mobile Home/ House Renting
Originally Printed: April 6, 2005
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. Last year, I had a brand new mobile home installed on my 2.5 acre parcel of land. Unfortunately, some of the piers installed under the house have cracked and are crumbling. I am afraid the others will do the same and the house will collapse. I believe the constant rain of the past two months may have been a contributing factor to this phenomena. What can I do?
A. You are short on details as to any warranties given to you by the manufacturer or the installer of the mobile home. Installation of a mobile home should come with a warranty of some kind, especially with respect to materials used and their compatibility with their end use. You need to look to the relationship between the manufacturer of your mobile home and the company that installed it on your land. Are they one and the same? How much experience did the installer have installing mobile homes, and with this particular type of mobile home? Is the land the mobile home installed on stable, or has the rain undermined or caused the soil to collapse under the house?
Q. I have been renting a house for the last 15 years. It is now time to repaint and to have the carpeting changed, as the existing carpet is torn and ragged and the paint is peeling in several areas. I have asked the owner of the house to do so but he refuses to spend any money. My rent is $1,300 a month and should not be ashamed of the conditions in which I am living. What should I do?
A. If no painting has been done in 15 years and the condition of the carpet is such that it presents a danger to you, the owner owes you new carpeting and a new painting job. If after you have given him a 30-day notice, he still refuses to do anything, you can proceed with doing the work necessary and deduct it from the rent. If the work costs more than $1,300, then do it over a longer period of time so as to get all of your money back from the rent. No one should be required to live with peeling paint and torn carpeting. Rent of $1,300 a month is a substantial sum and you are entitled to habitable quarters for that kind of money.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. Last year, I had a brand new mobile home installed on my 2.5 acre parcel of land. Unfortunately, some of the piers installed under the house have cracked and are crumbling. I am afraid the others will do the same and the house will collapse. I believe the constant rain of the past two months may have been a contributing factor to this phenomena. What can I do?
A. You are short on details as to any warranties given to you by the manufacturer or the installer of the mobile home. Installation of a mobile home should come with a warranty of some kind, especially with respect to materials used and their compatibility with their end use. You need to look to the relationship between the manufacturer of your mobile home and the company that installed it on your land. Are they one and the same? How much experience did the installer have installing mobile homes, and with this particular type of mobile home? Is the land the mobile home installed on stable, or has the rain undermined or caused the soil to collapse under the house?
Q. I have been renting a house for the last 15 years. It is now time to repaint and to have the carpeting changed, as the existing carpet is torn and ragged and the paint is peeling in several areas. I have asked the owner of the house to do so but he refuses to spend any money. My rent is $1,300 a month and should not be ashamed of the conditions in which I am living. What should I do?
A. If no painting has been done in 15 years and the condition of the carpet is such that it presents a danger to you, the owner owes you new carpeting and a new painting job. If after you have given him a 30-day notice, he still refuses to do anything, you can proceed with doing the work necessary and deduct it from the rent. If the work costs more than $1,300, then do it over a longer period of time so as to get all of your money back from the rent. No one should be required to live with peeling paint and torn carpeting. Rent of $1,300 a month is a substantial sum and you are entitled to habitable quarters for that kind of money.
Legal Eaze #19 Child Support/ Home Purchase
Originally Printed: April 20, 2005
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. My ex-husband has owed $754 of ordered child support since February 1998. He also owes for two years of ordered day care charges totaling $540. He refuses to sign an interspousal grand deed on a piece of property awarded to me in our property settlement in 1997. What is my best course of action?
A. With regards to the back child support and the day care charges, you need to go into the same court that granted your divorce on an Order to Show Cause (OSC) and get the court to order arrearages to be paid through an assignment of your ex-husband’s wages. As for his refusal to sign the interspousal grand deed, you can double up on the same OSC and obtain a court order to the effect that the clerk of the court should sign your interspousal grant deed in order to get the property in your name only. Once you obtain your court order, you must find out who is in charge of signing your deed and how much it costs. You did not indicate where the property was located and what court granted your divorce. Every county has a different person in charge of signing deeds when the spouse who must sign refuses to do so, is deceased or cannot be found. However, the procedure is the same in every county. This is a fairly technical motion, so I advise you to contact an attorney to handle it for you.
Q. My husband and I made an offer to purchase a home about two weeks ago. We have not heard a word from the seller since. What’s the hold up and what can we do?
A. I simply do not have enough information to give you advice. Was your offer made to a real estate agent representing the seller? If so, contact the agent. Time is of essence in this hot real estate market and once an offer has been made, a response must come forth with a “yes” or “no” or a counteroffer. If you made your offer directly to the seller, then contact the seller. I presume no escrow has been opened and no deposit has been paid. It is possible that another offer was made at the same time as yours and the other offer was accepted. Nevertheless, you should be informed one way or another. You should not sit on an offer for two weeks, and this length of time tells me that either the house has already been sold or the seller is not very serious or some other major reason like an illness has gotten in the way. Patience is not necessarily a virtue here.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 13 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. My ex-husband has owed $754 of ordered child support since February 1998. He also owes for two years of ordered day care charges totaling $540. He refuses to sign an interspousal grand deed on a piece of property awarded to me in our property settlement in 1997. What is my best course of action?
A. With regards to the back child support and the day care charges, you need to go into the same court that granted your divorce on an Order to Show Cause (OSC) and get the court to order arrearages to be paid through an assignment of your ex-husband’s wages. As for his refusal to sign the interspousal grand deed, you can double up on the same OSC and obtain a court order to the effect that the clerk of the court should sign your interspousal grant deed in order to get the property in your name only. Once you obtain your court order, you must find out who is in charge of signing your deed and how much it costs. You did not indicate where the property was located and what court granted your divorce. Every county has a different person in charge of signing deeds when the spouse who must sign refuses to do so, is deceased or cannot be found. However, the procedure is the same in every county. This is a fairly technical motion, so I advise you to contact an attorney to handle it for you.
Q. My husband and I made an offer to purchase a home about two weeks ago. We have not heard a word from the seller since. What’s the hold up and what can we do?
A. I simply do not have enough information to give you advice. Was your offer made to a real estate agent representing the seller? If so, contact the agent. Time is of essence in this hot real estate market and once an offer has been made, a response must come forth with a “yes” or “no” or a counteroffer. If you made your offer directly to the seller, then contact the seller. I presume no escrow has been opened and no deposit has been paid. It is possible that another offer was made at the same time as yours and the other offer was accepted. Nevertheless, you should be informed one way or another. You should not sit on an offer for two weeks, and this length of time tells me that either the house has already been sold or the seller is not very serious or some other major reason like an illness has gotten in the way. Patience is not necessarily a virtue here.
Legal Eaze #18 Dust/ Credit Card Theft
Originally Printed: March 23, 2005
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 12 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. There is a lot of new activity on the land next to our house. The lot is being prepared for new building and a tractor has been grading it. Unfortunately, a tremendous amount of dust has been drifting towards our house, and last week when it was hot enough to have our windows open, my wife complained that she constantly had to dust our furniture and our baby has started to cough because of the amount of dust we are getting in the house. Our son’s bedroom is located nearest the grading. We fear that our son is getting very ill due to this dust. What can we do?
A. There are laws requiring that dust be abated by watering the earth being moved. The contractor who is doing this work is doing so in violation of these laws. If you are located within the boundaries of the city of Tehachapi, you need to call the Department of Code Enforcement at City Hall. If you are located in Kern County, you would have to call the equivalent department in Kern County. I would go next door and warn the person driving the tractor to stop doing so unless the soil is wetted down first. If you son is becoming ill as a result of dust rising from a building project, first take him to a doctor, switch him to another room where he would not be exposed to the dust until the contractor next door becomes more responsible to your plight. If your child’s health has been affected by the contractor’s violation of laws, you can sue him for your son’s health problems. Dust can severely affect the health of those who work or live in close proximity of new building projects and dust abatement is a must when such projects are being completed.
Q. I had my wallet stolen during the holidays last year and I am afraid that I have become the victim of identity theft. All my important documents were in the wallet and now I am getting bills from credit cards I reported stolen three months ago as well as from stores I never shopped at, Internet Web sites, etc. What should I do?
A. I hope you reported the theft to the police. That is the first thing you need to do. Then, you need to write an explicit letter to all four (there is a new one now) credit reporting agencies, giving details of the items that where stolen, when, where; and write to each one of the creditors explaining what happened. You also need to contact the Federal Trade Commission, which has a Web site where you can report the theft.
Maxine de Villefranche is an attorney and civil general practitioner with 12 years of experience. She operates her law practice from her new office in town, as well her Lancaster satellite office. She will answer legal questions posed to her by the readers, to the best of her abilities. Please forward your questions to maxinedev@msn.com.
Q. There is a lot of new activity on the land next to our house. The lot is being prepared for new building and a tractor has been grading it. Unfortunately, a tremendous amount of dust has been drifting towards our house, and last week when it was hot enough to have our windows open, my wife complained that she constantly had to dust our furniture and our baby has started to cough because of the amount of dust we are getting in the house. Our son’s bedroom is located nearest the grading. We fear that our son is getting very ill due to this dust. What can we do?
A. There are laws requiring that dust be abated by watering the earth being moved. The contractor who is doing this work is doing so in violation of these laws. If you are located within the boundaries of the city of Tehachapi, you need to call the Department of Code Enforcement at City Hall. If you are located in Kern County, you would have to call the equivalent department in Kern County. I would go next door and warn the person driving the tractor to stop doing so unless the soil is wetted down first. If you son is becoming ill as a result of dust rising from a building project, first take him to a doctor, switch him to another room where he would not be exposed to the dust until the contractor next door becomes more responsible to your plight. If your child’s health has been affected by the contractor’s violation of laws, you can sue him for your son’s health problems. Dust can severely affect the health of those who work or live in close proximity of new building projects and dust abatement is a must when such projects are being completed.
Q. I had my wallet stolen during the holidays last year and I am afraid that I have become the victim of identity theft. All my important documents were in the wallet and now I am getting bills from credit cards I reported stolen three months ago as well as from stores I never shopped at, Internet Web sites, etc. What should I do?
A. I hope you reported the theft to the police. That is the first thing you need to do. Then, you need to write an explicit letter to all four (there is a new one now) credit reporting agencies, giving details of the items that where stolen, when, where; and write to each one of the creditors explaining what happened. You also need to contact the Federal Trade Commission, which has a Web site where you can report the theft.
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