41
votes
Is it legal to leave signs falsely indicating that one's property has been booby-trapped?
Even if it isn't a crime, it might give rise to civil liability in various ways.
For example, it might invalidate your homeowner's insurance coverage if the sign caused the fire department to delay ...
- 229k
37
votes
Can my siblings charge me retroactive rent on a house we all own?
No
As an owner, you have no obligation to pay rent to other owners.
Notwithstanding, even if you were not an owner, rent cannot be levied retrospectively. That is, even if you were someone totally ...
- 218k
33
votes
Accepted
Baseball caught: Ownership? Can one leave?
See Popov v. Hayashi. The person who caught the ball, or who first obtained possession of the ball, becomes the owner.
Prior to the time
the ball was hit, it was possessed and owned by Major League ...
- 65.7k
29
votes
What is the status (and value) of the day’s unsold newspapers being put out for collection by the paper boy?
Paper put out for waste collection is owned by the waste disposal service
Abdul's News & Wine contracts with the city's waste disposal company. Under that contract, he may give his waste to the ...
- 43.1k
27
votes
What are the minimum required legal obligations for US citizens?
Just because they don't use cash, doesn't mean they don't have income. Even if they have a barter economy, barter income is taxable. If Ebenezer gives Zachariah a dozen chickens to build a cowshed, ...
- 30.1k
27
votes
Baseball caught: Ownership? Can one leave?
Who owned the ball? Was it actually the woman's? My own legal assessment leans to "no" because no transfer of ownership was intended and the ball was probably not "abandoned". On ...
- 30.1k
27
votes
Can my stepdad steal from my room when I’m gone?
What laws/ rights can I use against him to keep him out my room?
Who owns the house (or rents it if it is being rented from a third party)?
If your stepdad does, you can't keep him out of your room.
...
- 229k
25
votes
What are the minimum required legal obligations for US citizens?
This might be too broad to answer in the Stack Exchange format, but I'll give it a start, making this answer a community wiki for anyone to add on to. Obviously there's a long list of criminal ...
23
votes
Accepted
Theft on golf course
Individual lost balls are generally considered to be abandoned property, and finders may keep them unless the golf course specifically forbids it as a matter of policy.
However, large scale recovery ...
- 4,765
17
votes
Is it legal to leave signs falsely indicating that one's property has been booby-trapped?
In most jurisdictions, bomb threats are a crime even on the own property, not just in airports or similar places.
- 19.2k
17
votes
Can a car dealership reverse a car sale if the lending company removes their approval after the sale?
In addition to Dale's answer:
Isn’t the vehicle now the legal property of the customer?
No. You didn't pay for the car.
You should take the time to read the contract, if you haven't. The contract ...
- 926
17
votes
What are the limits of Terms of Service as a legal shield for a company?
TOS are contracts
By agreeing to the terms of service you are entering into a legally enforceable contract, just as binding as a contract for buying a car, taking out a mortgage, or buying a cup of ...
- 218k
14
votes
How can I remove neighbors fence that’s built on my property
The fence itself is his property, not yours, so you cannot destroy it. You would have to demand that he remove his fence from your property, and have that demand enforced by the courts. In so doing, ...
- 216k
14
votes
Can a car dealership reverse a car sale if the lending company removes their approval after the sale?
Can a car dealership reverse a car sale if the lending company removes their approval after the sale?
If the lender decides not to send the agreed funds then there is no sale to reverse.
X signed a ...
- 745
12
votes
What are the limits of Terms of Service as a legal shield for a company?
Terms of service may be challenged as any other contract might be. Ordinary contract principles apply. They are also often consumer contracts of adhesion, so they may draw special scrutiny for unfair ...
- 65.7k
11
votes
What are the minimum required legal obligations for US citizens?
There are few truly compulsory actions required of US citizens, but there are a great number of conditional requirements, and of course there are many criminal and civil laws governing daily life. ...
- 629
9
votes
What are the minimum required legal obligations for US citizens?
If you haven't decided on a state yet, have a look at New Hampshire. The Free State Project selected New Hampshire in 2003 at the state with the fewest restrictions on living free in a libertarian ...
- 1,656
9
votes
Can my stepdad steal from my room when I’m gone?
The answer provided by ohwilleke is excellent from a legal perspective.
Mostly, this could be anger talking. This man is rightfully angry that his property is missing. You could defuse the situation ...
- 926
9
votes
What are the limits of Terms of Service as a legal shield for a company?
united-states
Here are our requirements for your participation (the TOS). At any time, we may unilaterally decide to stop serving you. If and when that happens, we may keep your money.
This is not a ...
- 5,319
7
votes
What is the status (and value) of the day’s unsold newspapers being put out for collection by the paper boy?
Theft requires intention, so whether Bob has committed theft will turn on the details. Honest belief that property has been abandoned is a defence against theft.
Your case is superficially close to ...
- 221
7
votes
Why did the neighbors, rather than the beneficiaries, object to the property destruction in Eyerman v. Mercantile Trust Co.?
Why did the neighbors rather than the beneficiaries object to the
property destruction in Eyerman v. Mercantile Trust Co.?
Short Answer
The neighbors were allowed to sue because they benefitted from ...
- 229k
7
votes
About that $100k I need to return
canada
What you describe is unjust enrichment.
The elements of unjust enrichment are: (1) an enrichment; (2) a corresponding deprivation; and (3) the absence of a juristic reason for the enrichment.
...
- 65.7k
7
votes
Can a car dealership reverse a car sale if the lending company removes their approval after the sale?
This is more of a personal finance answer than a legal one, but it's still relevant.
This is incidental to a spot delivery contract, something the buyer signs with the financing terms but before the ...
- 171
6
votes
Does a pub have a right to control the pavement outside it even if they have permission to place tables and chairs on that section of the pavement?
If they have a pavement licence that says so, yes.
Web search "pavement licence". First result:
Guidance: pavement licences (outdoor seating) gov.uk
A pavement licence is a licence granted ...
- 17.9k
6
votes
Liability for damage to work equipment while used at home with employer permission
Liability determinations are generally made by a jury (or in some cases, a judge/magistrate or arbitrator), and it's not an all-or-nothing question. A jury can find one party 30% at fault and the ...
- 407
6
votes
Liability for damage to work equipment while used at home with employer permission
Since this did not arise in the course of employment, liability is possible. Then the fact of being an employee of the tool-owner neither adds nor subtracts from the user's liability. What matters is ...
- 216k
6
votes
Accepted
What are the most prominent differences among the common law systems of the different states in the U.S.A.?
I (tentatively?) understand that the law of contracts, the law of
torts, the law of property, and (probably?) some other areas of law in
the U.S.A. are mostly the common law of the separate states.
...
- 229k
6
votes
Theft on golf course
It’s complicated
… but it’s unlikely to be theft
A person steals if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.
With found ...
- 218k
5
votes
Can my siblings charge me retroactive rent on a house we all own?
In France, yes, absolutely.
L'indivisaire qui use ou jouit privativement de la chose indivise est,
sauf convention contraire, redevable d'une indemnité.
The co-owner who uses the co-owned thing, ...
- 812
5
votes
How does the IRS know how long I live in a house?
Mostly because you say so. You could be lying, you could get away with it. Or they could for some reason think that you are lying, they could investigate, and prove that you are lying (then there ...
- 216k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible