Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with rights and property

Tracking down stolen guns

DaddyNewt — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 12:25:44 -0800

About 30 years ago my dad had a large gun collection (about 100 total). They were stolen and only about 10 of them were ever recovered. He had a list of models and serial numbers that he sent to local law enforcement. I still have that list. is there any chance of recovering more of the guns? How would I go about that?

Is this legal?

defmute — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:11:31 -0800

Has someone violated my rights? I live at an adult foster care home (basically a mental hospital) where you are not allowed to have cameras. I have a camera and left it on table one day. Staff found it later and I told them it was mine so that I could at least get it back when I am discharged from the home. Today the vice president told me that they are deleting the photos because they are inappropriate (naked pictures of my girlfriend). Is this legal? I was under the impression that they would not even be allowed to LOOK at the pictures much less delete them even if I wasn't supposed to have the camera to begin with.

Also, this institution prohibits cellphones and one of my friends has a Blackberry that was confiscated after he carelessly left it in a bathroom. The vice president flipped through the phone to find out who the phone belonged to and stumbled upon an email from my gmail account (I borrow his phone often and leave my gmail signed in cause he doesn't have gmail). The vice president claims the email was already on the screen once she opened the phone's browser. She did read some of the contents of the e mail, however. Did she commit a crime in this instance?

Say that what the vice president did was a federal offense. Could I just call the FBI and tell them to investigate the case? If not, would I be able to get some kind of a public defender to represent me or would I just have to pay for a laywer? Thanks for the help, yall.

What can by vrother do to get his landlord to help out?

MaryDellamorte — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 13:08:06 -0800

My brother rents a property in Virginia and after a storm four months ago, a massive tree was struck by lightning and fell and is now blocking their driveway. They are still able to drive through the yard to get to the house but the landlord has been dragging his feet to remedy this situation. What can he do? Is the tree blocking the driveway some kind of a code violation? Also there is another huge tree still standing that is clearly dead and has already been struck by lightning and it's a miracle it's still standing. It is only a matter of time before that thing falls and it's right next to the house, is there any way to get the landlord to take care of that tree also? They have purchased renter's insurance in case the tree falls and damages their belongings.

Of course my brother needs to call the local tenant union, but I wanted to know if anyone has had any experience with this, thanks.

IPR for a new Google business service?

Eltulipan — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:17:03 -0800

How do I go about proposing a new business service concept to Google? So I got this great idea for a new business service on Google. See http://www.google.com/friendconnect/home/overview?hl=en for an example. My question is how to go about protecting my idea and entering into a meaningful discussion with them on feasability. Apologies for being vague about the idea itself, for obvious reasons.

Neighbor impeding water runoff

tronec — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:44:38 -0800

How do I approach a business owner whose work on his adjoining property is causing excess water to pool on our lawn? . . . details inside. . . A portion of our home’s grass backyard serves as a drainage path for water from our neighbors’ yards. When the ground is saturated or frozen, sometimes water will pool in our yard, roughly 6” deep, 25’x35’, for a couple of days following heavy rains. The downstream adjoining property (zoned for business) was purchased last summer. Over the winter, the new owner dumped some 15 truckloads of soil/gravel on his property where the water used to flow on down from our lawn. Following March rains, our “pool” is now at least a foot deep and has lasted for more than a week. It encompasses a much larger area including the bases of two 30’ trees in our back yard. I don’t want the water to stand so long that it would kill the trees, nor do I want a semi-permanent bog/mosquito hatchery in our backyard.

I will speak to the property owner, but how should I approach him? What do I have to negotiate with? Do I talk with him first, or with the city/state officials to find out legally what our rights are? I do not have $ for a lawyer. (Illinois city of 20,000)

I would like at least a return to the relatively unimpeded flow of water from our yard. This would likely mean at least the installation of some sort of drainage tile on his property.

The United States vs. Money?

thenuts — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:21:31 -0800

I was reading comments on Fark about an article where a man was pulled over and had $26,000 in his trunk and the money was confiscated but he was not charged. The merit of this is not what my question is about, it is about whether money (or property can be a defendant in a case). Here is the comment from the thread:

That assumes honest, intelligent courts willing to apply the plain meaning of the constitution against law enforcement. It happens sometimes, but this is one of those areas where the courts have abandoned us to the thugs in uniform. Courts have repeatedly upheld this sort of thing on the perverse idea that property can be charged with a crime. Thus such absurd court cases as "United States v. $26,000" being allowed on the docket. Note that the owner of the $26,000 is not a party to the case.

Is this true? And can anyone give any examples? That comment really got me interested, I tried doing some searching but all the information I found was about recovering a settlement.

There's no place like a home for sale

hollygoheavy — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 09:26:01 -0800

What recourse do I have when I'm stuck between 2 realtors? Way more inside I rented a house last September with a 1 year lease. If I chose to stay after that year, the lease would then go month to month. I had already decided to not renew the lease and to move back to my old town in September 08 when I was told last weekend that the owner had listed the house for sale. He listed the house with a different agent and agency than he uses to manage the house, which has made the property manager angry. The new listing agent pointed out to me that the dates on the lease that both myself and the property mgr signed are incorrect-they state a move in date of May 15, 2006 and a move out date of Sept 1, 2007 and a total rental amount of $2400 due for the length of the lease. The correct dates would have been 9/1/07 to 9/1/08 and the total rental amount would have been $14400. So, the lease is incorrect, however I did sign it without paying attention so I take full responsibility for that.

Now, the house has been listed for sale and I am expected to keep it ready to be shown. I have a 5 year old son and a 17 year old daughter and we are very tidy as usual, but the house will obviously not be "staged" on a moment's notice. I found a new house that I will be leasing and moving June 1st. According to the property mgr, the dates on the lease are meaningless, it's the intent that we have to go by, so my leaving June 1st means that I forfeit my $1200 deposit. I believe that the owner putting the house up for sale means that he broke the lease so I am entitled to my deposit back if the house is in the same or better condition as when I moved in (which it will be).

This morning I was upstairs not dressed when I heard a man's voice in my dining room. My 5 year old son was downstairs, so I ran down in my underwear to see a pest control guy in the house, saying he was here to do a termite inspection. I had not been notified at all about this and he had a key to get into the house. My son did let him in (and yes, there's been discussion and consequences for that) but the man would have let himself in anyway. I called the property mgr and she got hateful with me and told me to call the listing agent, that she had nothing to do with it, she didn't know anything about it and that frankly it wasn't her problem, SHE didn't let the guy in. I explained that I didn't sign a contract with the listing agent, I signed one with her, that I paid my rent to her and she was my point of contact. She told me that any issues with showing that house aren't her problem, that I should contact the listing agent. Frankly, I don't want to deal with the listing agent because she's just as hateful as the property mgr.

Is there any recourse I have on this? When I moved in I paid 1st, last and security deposit, so I won't be asking for anything back since May's rent is already paid and I'm leaving June 1st-but I would like the deposit back. I'd actually like to file some sort of complaint since I feel that the property mgr has been and is highly unprofessional and the listing agent is invading my privacy.

This is in Florida, both the property mgr and the listing agents are licensed realtors.

Tenant rights - was this trespassing?

othersomethings — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 13:27:20 -0800

My apartment was entered without the knowledge or consent of me, or my landlord. Is this trespassing? I live in an condo unit that is privately owned. The condo below me is privately owned. Some of the condos are owned by the building, etc. but many like mine, are privately owned and rented out. Recently the owner of the unit below mine has complained of water damage, and though she tried negotiating with my landlord to assess the situation, she ALSO went through the property management (who, once again, doesn't own my unit) and filed complaints.

Long story short...the unit owner below, along with someone from the property management, and a plumber went into our unit and did inspections of the bathrooms - ALL without my knowledge or consent. I was not informed that anyone would be entering my unit. ALSO my landlord did not know that the property management had a key to my unit.

Have any rights been violated, and should I (and my landlord) be concerned on any level?

I really couldn't find any information on this...Google only came up with tenants who ARE trespassing, and askmi came up with "am I liable for injuries of someone trespassing."

Who owns what in my new rental?

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 12:53:38 -0800

Two weeks ago I rented a new place. A previous tenant left the washer and dryer here. I can't figure out who owns what! Help! The landlord didn't claim them on the lease as provided appliances, but did tell me I could use them.

The prior tenant M terminated their lease very early. I am unclear as to whether the w&d belong to M or to tenant W, who lived here before M. I was somehow given the impression that the w&d did belong to W, but I have no real idea.

My neighbor had offered me money for the w&d , then ended up talking to the previous owner. Apparently he said someone was coming to pick up the w&d and that he was trying to sell them. I also know my neighbor told M that he was trying to buy the set. Thus I question whether there was ever any intent to get money for this stuff. That seems to matter, because if they were originally abandoned here then trying to claim the right to sell once I took possession is highly dubious.

No one has communicated to me directly their intent to come take this stuff out of my laundry room. They didn't tell the landlord they were going to be removing the stuff or doing anything with it. Isn't property left after you move out forfeit? I don't think the landlord can sell it but they can definitely throw it away. What about me?

I'm not exactly comfortable with the idea of someone coming on my property and taking stuff without arranging things with me beforehand. It seems a little shady. While I'm not sure who really has claim to it anymore, I'm not trying to steal it either and have left the room unlocked.

I feel like I'm getting tricked out of the w&d. I'm not convinced the owner ever intended to sell them, but I can't easily call them out on it. I offered to sell them to my neighbor because he wanted them and I had the opportunity to buy an ok set from someone I knew. But I wouldn't have agreed to buy the second set if I wasn't getting paid for the first, dig? I thought I'd be helping two people out, but now I'm feeling squeezed.

Does the prior tenant have any rights as to this property at this point in time? Is there an easy way to determine this? I live in Texas.

MovieFilter: Protecting my IP/Screenplay

bkdelong — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 11:23:59 -0800

How to I protect my book from being adapted to film/screen/movie without my permission? I have a friend who registered her first screenplay based on her first book with the Writers Guild of America. She has written her second book but it is not yet adapted to screenplay form. She wants to make sure she protects her book/IP from being adapted for a movie without her permission.

Should she register her Book as "intended for Screen" with the Guild? Are there other ways to protect her works?

How would one stop a company from using footage of your property in their TV ad campaign?

schoolgirl report — Mon, 25 Oct 2004 18:42:31 -0800

How would one stop a company from using footage of your property in their TV ad campaign? [MI] Several years ago a Major Brewing Company contacted my grandparents to ask permission to film their mountain cabin for use in a beer ad. I'm not sure whether they offered money, but my grandparents replied that they did not have permission. My grandparents have passed on and my immediate family now own the cabin. Since then, several friends and family members have recognized the
cabin in an ad by this Major Brewing Company. Can we do anything about this?

I don't even know how we can respond to this - we don't have copies of the ads, don't know the exact airing dates, and don't know which ad company made them. I find the whole thing offensive, as I particularly dislike this company anyway (nothing against beer) and they went ahead when they were specifically denied permission.

Do we own any kind of "image rights" on our cabin? It's not famous or anything like that. Do we have any recourse? If we asked the Major Brewing Company to make a donation to our favorite charity, would they?

One complication is that they probably filmed the footage from US Forest Service property.

Protecting Trees in CA

kk — Mon, 11 Oct 2004 23:53:25 -0800

We have big trees on our property in San Mateo county, CA. Really big trees -- about 120 feet tall, some Coastal Redwood. Is there a clever way to legally protect the trees forever (from being cut down) by deeding them in some way?