How can I get my money back from a on-line fraud car sale: I purchased a car online using Western Union. I paid 5000. dollars and was told the car would be shipped in three days once the payment was sent. It's been 5 dayds and noone responds to my E-mails
Ronald's answer: None of this is going to be good news. Online car sales and auctions can be a very risky way to buy a used car. You giving your money away on trust alone. Even car dealer reviews posted on the auction site can not be believed because the dealer can hire people to post those reviews and pretend to be satisfied customers - and you won’t know the difference. As a general rule, you should never pay for a car that you have not personally inspected and seen and checked out. Otherwise, you could be giving your money away. Once you pay for it but you don’t get the vehicle delivered and can’t get your money back, what are your rights? That usually depends on 3 things: your paperwork and whether you bought it from a car dealer or a private person and if they are still around. If you bought from a private person, it will be very easy for them to just disappear with your money. If you sent it by wire, such as Western Union, then you should immediately report it to them and your local police or prosecutor. If you bought from a car dealer though, you will have much greater legal rights in most states - since most of them have a legitimate storefront location. Car dealers generally have a harder time taking the money and running - but it does happen. If they take the money but don’t deliver the vehicle to you within a reasonable time or by the deadline you may have agreed on, then that would be a breach of the contract and can also be fraud in most states. Every state has its own definition of fraud, but generally it's a lie or something kept hidden that costs you money. Internet sales of cars is an area that is rampant with fraud, crooks and thieves. You should talk to a local Consumer Law lawyer about your state laws and what your rights are, right away. Call your local attorney's Bar Association and ask for a referral to a Consumer Law attorney near you or you can go to this web site page for a Free Online 50 State National List of Consumer Law Lawyers (http://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/ocll-site/ocll-locate_local.shtml) and find one near you (lawyers don’t pay to get listed here and most of them are members of the only national association for Consumer Law lawyers, NACA.net). But act quickly because for every legal right you have, there is only a limited amount of time to actually file a lawsuit in court or your rights expire (it's called the statute of limitations), so don't waste your time getting to a Consumer Law attorney and finding out what your rights are. And before you decide to buy a used car over the internet next time, read this Avvo.com guide on how to avoid getting ripped off in an online car sale: http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/10-rules-to-avoid-online-car-sales--auction-ripoffs. If this answer was helpful, please give it a “Vote Up” review below. Ron Burdge, Attorney, www.CarSalesFraud.com, www.BurdgeLaw.com
Is the landlord supposed to legally provide me accommodations when apartment has no heat or hot water to fix gas leak: Is the landlord supposed to provide my apartment complex accommodations when they have had the heat and hot water turned off to fix an ongoing gas leak. My landlord is telling us that she doesn't have to provide us hotel rooms technically because apartment is still habitable. The past two weeks have been snowing nonstop in Buffalo, NY with temperatures below 40 and for a few nights with temperatures in the single digits. She is now forcing us to check out of our hotel everyday by 11am and to wait until 4pm for them to post notice to see if we can move back in or not. She wants us to use tiny heaters which only raise the temperature in the living room from 41 degrees to maybe 46-48. We will have no heat and no hot water from 11am-4pm everyday until the gas is turned back on. Is this legal?
Ronald's answer: Probably not. Practically every state has a landlord tenant law that requires the landlord to maintain the property they are renting out so that the tenant can “quietly” enjoy the property they are renting. Those same laws generally say that if you have a maintenance problem or other type of nuisance or hazard in the property, that is the landlord’s responsibility to take care of, then your obligation is to give the landlord a written notice of the problem and a reasonable chance to fix it. If the landlord fails to take action in a reasonable amount of time or fails to fix the problem, then the landlord is the one who is in breach of your lease and not you. That means you have the right to move out in most states with no penalty to you. Those same laws generally say that you also can take the landlord to court and get an order to fix up the property or take care of the problem instead of moving out, if that is what you want. But be careful about that approach because you could win the case, the landlord could fix it up, and then the landlord will likely be looking for something you do wrong so they can evict you out of the property - perhaps just to get even with you (which would be illegal but very hard to prove). But the law is a little different in each state. You need to talk to a local landlord-tenant law attorney who deals with landlord tenant law to find out exactly what the law says in your state. Call your local attorney's Bar Association and ask for a referral to a landlord-tenant law attorney near you. But act quickly because for every legal right you have, there is only a limited amount of time to actually file a lawsuit in court or your rights expire (it's called the statute of limitations), so don't waste your time getting to a landlord-tenant law attorney and finding out what your rights are. If this answer was helpful, please give a "Vote Up" review below. Thanks and good luck. Ron Burdge, www.BurdgeLaw.com Click here for a list of state and local attorney bar associations http://www.hg.org/bar-associations-usa.html Click here for a list of state and local women attorney’s bar associations http://www.ncwba.org/ourmembers-linkstomembers.shtml What are attorney bar associations and how do they work? Click on this Wikipedia answer here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_association
If you posted bad thing about your ex- boss on facebook and everything you wrote is true. Can they sue you?: I quited my job because my bosses mistreated the employees including me. I went on the facebook to vent about my bosses that a lot of think of them desrespectful, selfish and greedy. When they need people they begging to work but when they just ignore you. They are the selective assigning client to employee always giving the high paying service to yourself and family.
Ronald's answer: Having second thoughts about that facebook vent you just posted? It happens to lots of people. First, always realize that anything you post on the internet, anywhere, never goes away and anyone can find it if they look hard enough, even if the web page is taken down by the web site. Second, can you get sued over what you said? That depends on exactly what you said and how you said it. The First Amendment to the US Constitution (and also some state constitutions) says that you have the right of free speech. But it is not unlimited. You can not slander or defame someone with lies and falsehoods without being held accountable, if they find out what you said and can prove your statements were false. So when you want to gripe, what can you do? How far can you go? There are three general rules to follow. First, talk to a First Amendment lawyer near you before you post anything that you think might get you into trouble. You can look for one here on Avvo under the Find a Lawyer tab. Second, as long as what you say is true (and you can prove it if you have to), then it is probably protected free speech and you can say it. Third, as long as what you say is expressed as being your own opinion ("I think ..."), then you can probably say it as protected free speech. As you can see, this is a little fuzzy. Lots of things in the law are like that. You will need to talk to a local attorney who deals with First Amendment and Free Speech cases or Internet Law. You can search the Avvo web site or call your local attorney's Bar Association and ask for a referral to an attorney near you. If this answer was helpful, please give a “Vote UP” review below. Thanks and good luck. Ron Burdge, www.BurdgeLaw.com Click here for a list of state and local attorney bar associations http://www.hg.org/bar-associations-usa.html Prefer to talk to a woman attorney? Click here for a list of state and local women attorney’s bar associations http://www.ncwba.org/ourmembers-linkstomembers.shtml What are attorney bar associations and how do they work? Click on this Wikipedia answer here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_association