One of the most visible areas in a planned community is its roads and streets. Because of that, homeowners and their homeowner’s associations sometimes exceed their authority over those roads and get themselves in trouble. Usually, as I’ve written before, when a planned community is developed, a plat is filed that shows the lots, common […]
“Every dog gets one bite,” is a bit of homey legal wisdom that is often repeated by laypersons and even lawyers, but it is not entirely true in the state of North Carolina. The first way a person can recover from a dog bite or attack is under a negligence theory. Legally, a dog attack […]
You can get good bargains from buying things from classified ads, or Craig’s List, or at a garage sale. Aside from scams, the biggest problem is what happens when you get that new (to you) boat, vacuum cleaner, Betamax, or automatic tomato planter, home and it quits working. What protection do you have? Legally, you […]
Consumer Reports took a break from comparing washing machines and SUVs and subjected some of the do-it-yourself legal products to their testing and review. Using the products of LegalZoom, Nolo, Rocket Lawyer, and Quicken’s Willmaker Plus, the testers created a will, car bill of sale, a home lease, and a promissory note using those company’s […]
One of the first amenities that are built by developers of planned subdivisions and condominiums in North Carolina is the neighborhood pool. Pools are an attractive addition to a subdivision and developers and owners see them not only as a great place to socialize with neighbors and entertain the kids, but to enhance the value […]
English: Foreclosure signs, Mortgage crisis, (Photo credit: Wikipedia) With the downturn of the economy, and the burst of the housing bubble, large numbers of landlords find themselves unable to meet their mortgage payments and their rental property goes into foreclosure. If you a a tenant, with a valid lease on the foreclosed property, what rights […]
In North Carolina, damages for personal injury involve several different kinds of damages. First are the hard damages or “specials” as some call them. These are the damages where the amounts are usually easy to determine. As long as medical bills and lost hours at work can be shown to be caused by the negligence […]
West face of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Español: Edificio de la Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos en Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) A few days ago, Amendment One was passed in North Carolina by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent according to unofficial results, with only seven of […]
On May 8, 2012, North Carolina citizens will be going to the polls to cast their vote in the Republican Primary. Also at stake in this election is an issue which should be of great importance to all voters, regardless of their political party, whether to vote FOR or AGAINST a proposed amendment to our […]
I’ve watched a lot of lawyer shows over the years. The first I remember was “The Paper Chase” which was actually about law school. After watching that I decided I didn’t want to be a lawyer just from the shear amount of stress it appeared that law students have. (Of course I did eventually go […]
Image by alancleaver_2000 via Flickr I recently had a complaint from any owner who was being assessed by a homeowner’s association for annual dues. He explained that he never agreed to be in a homeowner’s association and didn’t consider his property to be within the area governed by the homeowner’s association. Therefore, the HOA had […]
By now even the non-entertainment savvy amongst us has heard about reality television “star” Kim Kardashian’s made-for-television, multi-million dollar marriage to NBA player Kris Humphries, and their equally publicized break-up a mere 72 days later. Reports have circulated that Kim K. initially asked Humphries for an annulment, however his refusal to “agree” to one left […]
One popular reality show today is A&E's "Hoarders. "The show details the problems of pathological hoarding or disposophobia. The individuals acquire possessions and fail to discard them even when the items are worthless, hazardous, or unsanitary and impair mobility and interfere with basic functions of life. The show scratches a morbid curiosity and probably makes […]
One insurance benefit that many automobile accident victims do not know about, and subsequently lose thousands of dollars is commonly known as “Med-Pay.” Med-Pay is a medical payment provision written into most liability insurance policies. Med-Pay coverage provides medical expense payment incurred as a result of injuries sustained by any person riding in the car […]
In North Carolina, you can obtain an absolute divorce upon the filing of a lawsuit alleging that you are a North Carolina resident (you have lived in this state for at least six consecutive months prior to filing) and that you and your spouse have been separated continuously for one year. Like most U.S. States, […]
I’ve written before about the life of a lawsuit and how long stretches of time appear with nothing seeming to happen. As I said before, some of that is waiting on reactions from the other side and some of it is work done by the attorney that doesn’t require much from the client, especially if […]
Just recently the family and I loaded up the Family Truckster and headed north past Richmond, Washington (which some in my family refer to as "Occupied Virginia"), Philadelphia, New York, and finally to Old Lyme, Connecticut to visit for a few weeks, members of my wife's family. From the time we left my driveway to […]