I have four roommates in the house that I have currently been renting for the past 5 months. One of the roommates moved out because she got pregnant and we have a replacement. She broke the lease and the leasing agency is trying to have the 5 of us sign a new lease. This brought some concern because they want us to agree to another year and we are unsure if we want to live here for another year at this moment and liked when the lease ended before.

-Why doesn’t the old lease contract still hold up for the rest of us?
- The girl broke the lease without the rest of us agreeing upon anything or signing paper work. Is this the correct or normal procedure? Can she do this without our consent?

- On a side note:

The current lease states that we are responsible for the upkeep of the lawn. We have been doing normal upkeep on the weekends, every weekend, because during the week we do not have time to take care of it with the remaining, if any, daylight. This week, however, it rained a lot and continued through the weekend. The grass got long and without our consent a service was provided. I asked our leasing agent if this was a normal service and she said it was, during the summer months contradicting the leasing agreement, with no additional fee.

- Are we to be held responsible for any payments for the service, even though we did not know or consent to having the service performed?
-What can they deem irresponsible care of the grounds?
-Are we required to be notified if a complaint has been filed against our lawn upkeep?

I apologize for the long winded post but I am unclear about what to do in this situation. I would like to thank anyone who is able to provide helpful information on this matter in advanced.

Hi guys, lots to talk about tonight and I’ll be elaborating in TheLaw.com blog, which I promise I’ll finally keep updated. So much to do so little time! Wishing a very Happy and Healthy Passover and Easter this week (Good Friday is closing in too)…

This week will see significant new changes, virtually all for the good!

(1) Next week we will be putting out a press release – The Law Guide & Law Dictionary is expected to exceed 80,000 downloads! We’re excited. Tell the world, download the app and, of course, give us a great rating. Expect a lot more foot traffic here over the next few weeks as we’ll also be announcing some partnerships (discounts for incorporating small businesses, etc.)

(2) The forums are going to undergo a MAJOR revision and I mean MAJOR. We have decided to add about 30 new subforums and move all the posts into the right areas so that things like Criminal Law will be subdivided into arrests and searches, a special section just for DUI-DWI, etc. While it’s more to look at, I think you’ll all be pleased with the much cleaner organization.

(3) Just a couple of extra house ads for TheLaw.com – I hope you don’t mind, just one in every thread and it won’t be obtrusive. Someone has to pay for all this great work! As always, intrusions here are at a complete minimum. Since people do come here to ask for advice but also to get an attorney, I hope they choose us and support the cause.

(4) Free Legal Forms — FINALLY… we will be uploaded a very large number of them in our special forms section. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how many new free legal forms we will have.

(5) The Monthly Legal Quiz – Yes, I’m going to have a few exams here to keep everyone on their toes, special prizes for the winner!

(6) A giveaway… I’ll be doing a promo and will give away a free music and video player, everyone can enter.

(7) I’ll be back posting up a storm as usual but someone had to get all this infrastructure done. I’ll be finishing the cleanup for the quick member login on the site, which was long overdue.

(8) Video – legal videos starring… well… you know who! I’ll also have a little “about us” that will tell you more about how I founded the site some 16 years ago. The video is very funny for me to watch… enjoy!

I’ve got a lot more news… but this will be it for now. I hope everyone is having a great Spring! Let us know your thoughts on all of the above and, as always, thanks for participating here!

Unknown to us until this week we just received a bill from the state of Kentucky charging us personal property tax on our vehichles for Jan-Dec of 2010. We moved from the state of Ky to Missouri in August of 2010. We registered our vehicles in Mo and paid personal property tax on those vehicles when we registered them here. So my question is can KY charge us tax on those vehicles for Aug-Dec when we didn’t live in KY and we already paid taxes once for that time period in MO. Isn’t that double taxation?
Plus they are accuring interest on this daily while we are trying to get information from the to protest it which has not been easy to obtain either.

Hello. I am not sure if I am posting this in the correct section or not. If it’s in the wrong place, my apologies, and if someone points that out to me, I’ll move it over to the right section. Thanks. This question is about PENNSYLVANIA.

My work wants to offer me a transfer to another store in our chain 52 miles from my home. I do not want to take it. I cannot afford the commute gas wise and childcare wise and it would mean basically no time with my children during the week. I can’t afford to actually move. Plus it would mean uprooting my son from school and friends and all of us starting out in a place where we don’t know anyone when we are essentially happy where we are. As I started to bring these points up with the regional manager, he just said it wouldn’t be for a while and cut the conversation short by telling me to just go away and think about it. I looked it up, and from what I can gather, I cannot be compelled to move more than 50 miles away for a job transfer without volunteering. However this week, my immediate boss told me that the regional manager is coming in again this week to talk to me about a temporary cover, where I would move to a different store to fill in for a lady that needs six weeks off to have a surgery. This has me worried for a number of reasons.

First, the location of the fill in store is almost exactly half way between my current store and the store with the first job transfer mentioned, the permanent one. I am worried that during those six weeks, ‘somehow’ my current job will ‘dissolve’ or the person filling in for ME will want to stay, settle in, etc etc. If that happens, I don’t want to be ‘made to stay on’ at the six week transfer place just because that is within 50 miles of where I live. I am also worried that this is ‘a stepping stone’. Like, once they have me half way, so to speak, it then makes it harder for me to say no to the 52 mile move because it’s now far less than that from where ‘I’m currently working’.

Aside from those concerns, I cannot afford the extra gas for the six weeks. And I would need about three hours extra child care every school day (currently I only need it after school, whereas then I would need it before school also), which I cannot afford. Also, I will miss time with my kids during the week even if I could afford those things. Time I am choosing not to miss by existing in my current job that allows me that time. I am certain that the company will offer me mileage for the gas use during those six weeks. However, I know they will not pay for additional childcare. The arrangement I have now is completely affordable to me and amounts to not even one hour after school between the time school finishes and the time I get out. I know that I can apply for a child care benefit because of my overall income, which I may or may not get I don’t know, but I don’t want to have to do that.

My history with the company is about 18 months. I have been moved quickly up through a few positions, presumably because they were happy with my work ethic and ability. I have never had an unauthorized day off work for any reason. I have never had any warning or disciplinary action. My employee file is clean and good looking.

I fear that these two offers are tied somehow. My questions are:

Am I correct in that I can refuse to be transfered the 52 miles to the new store permanently based on family needs and the fact that I can’t afford it?

Can I refuse to take this six week transfer based on the fact that I cannot afford the childcare and don’t want to do that to my kids anyway?

If I refuse either and I am fired, do I have a case of unfair dismissal? (I don’t mean suing them out of money, I mean compelling them not to fire me for that reason, as in take me back etc)
If I refuse either and I am demoted, do I have a case of unfair treatment?

If I transfer for six weeks, they have to have someone to take over my same position at my current store, so on some level, they ‘could’ just offer this transfer to my six week replacement instead….

I am just scared. I want to say no. For my kids, for myself, for my finances. But I need this job, and I actually really like this job, and I haven’t done anything wrong.

Would somebody be able to explain any answers to those questions that I have, in as much detail as you are able, so I have as much knowledge going in with me to my conversation this week with the regional manager. If you are able to point me out to any wording in any employment laws for the state that is relevant in my case that I could point out if this all goes wrong for me? Or just some general knowledgeable advice on how I can possibly say no without ‘unspoken-ly’ jeopardizing my job?

Many many many thanks to anyone that responds to me with help, you’ve no idea how grateful I will be for any and all advice, so thank you in advance x

In Dec. 2009, my brother was convicted of breaking and entering and theft. In Jan. 2010, he was accepted into a post adjudication program called drug court. Last month he was he was charged with public intoxication, breaking and entering and theft by receiving. This week he was dismissed from Drug Court due to the charges from last month. The theft by receiving was for a GPS that he bought from a person at work. My question is what options does he have to keep from serving prison time, or any suggestions?