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How To Get Your Security Deposit Back From Your Landlord
2008-02-08 23:47:00
Question: "I live in Michigan. My landlord has my security deposit of $3,800.00. That is quite a bit of money. I gave my forwarding address to the realtor who set up the rental unit for us. She represented the landlord. My forwarding address was sent to the landlord and via the representative. She responded to my email, thanking me for the address (on the 5th day). She also indicated there was damage to several items and she was going to get estimates. This occurred 25 days ago. We have been out of the unit for 31 days with no word from my landlord. What are my rights here?"
More About: Security , Back

Unauthorized Recordings - Eavesdropping - Michigan
2008-02-05 23:33:00
Perhaps you have wanted to record a phone conversation or video taped someone in your house, and wondered whether this is permitted by law. Alternatively, perhaps you have been the subject of an unauthorized video or telephone recording, and want to know your rights.
More About: Michigan , Civil , Eavesdropping , Cord

How to Evict a Tenant for Non-Payment of Rent
2008-01-15 00:03:00
Generally speaking, the law is on your side when a tenant does not pay. MCL 600.5714 provides for summary proceedings to recover possession of premises.
More About: Payment , Rent

Medicaid Recovery Program and Estate Planning
2008-01-12 05:34:00
In September 2007 the Michigan Legislature passed into law the Medicaid Estate Recovery law found at MCL 400.112g and MCL 700.3805. Recovery will not begin until the Federal government approves of the law. If approved, it could have a direct effect on Michigan seniors and their families without proper estate planning.
More About: Planning , Program

Teenagers Abused by Parents
2008-01-05 00:21:00
Teenagers who are abused by parents either physically and emotionally must be courageous. Many times they feel that they will not be believed if they report the abuse and do not have proof of their injury. They want to get away from their parents and/or get help but do not know how. This article is for them.
More About: Parents , Teenagers , Abused , Pare

Shopper Discounts - Arguably Fraudulent Charges for this Service
2007-12-23 00:38:00
Online buyers beware of charges to bank / credit card accounts made as a result of purchasing goods online at various retailers and unwittingly signing up for "shopper discount" service.
More About: Service , Discounts , Shopper

Accountability of Personal Representative / Executor
2007-12-20 22:50:00
Persons to whom money or property are transferred via a will / trust often wonder how to hold the executor accountable. Sometimes it may be the case that a relative, who is the executor of a deceased family member's will / trust, withholds or delays distribution of money or property. The executor may also fail to reply to inquiries or provide written documentation as to the status of the estate. The beneficiaries may lose confidence in the executor and wonder what can be done. In Michigan, according to
More About: Personal , Accountability , Probate , Representative , Resent

17-year-old Runaways: Not "Adults", Not "Juveniles", And Not "Children" -
2007-12-04 06:37:00
Wow, this is really interesting. An individual who is age 17 in Michigan is not an "adult", is not a "juvenile" and also not a "child" under Michigan law. What are they then and can Michigan Law provide the authority for the parents to do anything?
More About: Children , Year , Juvenile

Michigan Starts Fathers at Disadvantage in Custody Cases
2007-11-19 06:17:00
When a child is born to a man and a woman, the man and woman have equal rights to the child. If the man and woman separate, all else being equal, they are entitled to equal rights to the child and they should receive those rights in the form of a judgment awarding
More About: Michigan , Fathers , Cases , Custody , Fath

Voluntary Admission to Behavioral Unit a.k.a Psychiatric Ward
2007-11-17 06:02:00
A woman in her 60s presents herself to an attorney advising that her son and his family want to put her away in a mental institution and take her assets. She tells the attorney that she is sane and
More About: Voluntary , Probate , Ward , Chia , Unit

Michigan Criminal Law Statute of Limitations
2007-11-03 21:43:00
The Michigan statute of limitations on crimes is found at MCL 767.24. It provides different periods of limitation based upon the crime as follows:
More About: Criminal Law , Criminal , Mina

Michigan Child Care
2007-10-30 04:48:00
Finding the right day care for your child is a grueling process so this blog item is dedicated to those who need assistance / guidance through the process. Thankfully, a Google search of
More About: Family , Michigan , Care , State , Child

Urinating in Public - Michigan
2007-10-15 21:06:00
The Michigan Penal Code does not specifically identify urinating in public as a crime. This crime is frequently at the local level by for example, the local cities, villages, or townships. Michigan does have a statute in the penal code against indecent exposure. MCL 750.335a states:
More About: Public

Copyright Protection of Photographs
2007-10-04 16:16:00
Hi, my name is Alison and I wanted to know about whether certain material is copyrighted on blogs. I work for a crime prevention center (http://www.popcenter.org) and am a student/research assistant working under several professors. One of them asked me to find an image of a soccer referee giving out a red card for a "technique" to induce guilt/shame (which is a crime prevention technique). I wanted to see if I could obtain permission to use a picture of one image I have found on "Ref Blog" at http://www.refblog.com/pivo... There is no contact information and I am not sure whether this is public information/non-copyrighted, since it is a blog. Can you help me out?
More About: Photographs , Copyright

Bankruptcy and Land Contract Forfeiture
2007-10-04 06:23:00
What does a land contract vendor (seller) do when he has served an eviction notice upon the buyer for non-payment of rent, and the vendee (buyer) responds by filing for bankruptcy?
More About: Contract , Bankruptcy , Land , Bankrupt

Trademark Protection of Domain Names
2007-10-02 21:34:00
Tim's Q: Company XYZ has requested that I transfer to them a domain that is similar to their company name (x-y-z.com) because it infringes on their "trademark". I have taken down the site to avoid any problem but they also request I transfer the domain to them (not clear who pays any transfer fees). I find no record of a registered trademark nor does their site indicate in any way that the name is a "trademark". Does a common law trademark give give them such rights to a domain name I own because it happens to be the name of their company?
More About: Domain , Domain Names , Trademark , Names

Kudos!
2007-09-27 02:33:00
I am writing this to express my extreme satisfaction and thanks to Renee Walsh, Walsh Law PLLC. I am a single parent who like many, have had a great deal of difficulty in dealing with The Friend Of The Court. I was fortunate enough to come across this website and have the question I posted as well as many others answered by Renee with a great deal of courtesy, compassion and kindness. The information I obtained from her has proven to be of more value than I am able to adequately express here. I would highly recommend her services to anyone who finds themselves in need of legal assistance. Many thanks, Kelli B.
More About: Kudos

Visitor Inquiries - Post Your Inquiries Here
2007-09-26 23:32:00
Visitors to the site may post inquiries in the comment section below. I will review the inquiries, research and prepare an answer, and post the answer in a blog article.
More About: Post , Visitor , Inquiries

Michigan Lease Law
2007-09-21 06:53:00
It is important for both the landlord and the tenant to be aware of the numerous laws that govern all aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship. The most important of these laws are: The Truth in Renting Act, MCL 554.631 to 641; The Landlord Tenant Act, MCL 554.601 to 616;
More About: Michigan , Lease

Lease Law - Michigan
2007-09-21 06:53:00
It is important for both the landlord and the tenant to be aware of the numerous laws that govern all aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship. The most important of these laws are: The Truth in Renting Act, MCL 554.631 to 641; The Landlord Tenant Act, MCL 554.601 to 616;
More About: Michigan , Lease

Kudos!
2007-09-10 19:32:00
"To Renee Walsh: I am writing to about the answer you provided me today regarding my lease termination & the extra penalty fees my apartment complex was trying to charge me. I took the answer you posted on the website to the management to argue the point that my lease does not state anything about "market value" price and paying those extra penalties. The complex admitted that the lease should have stated that price but did not due to an error on their end. They fixed my lease termination paperwork and now they're only charging me the two months rent which is what was stated in the original lease. Because of your help, you saved me over $1600 in extra fees that I may have had to pay had I not gone to LawGuru.com and received your guidance! I can't thank you enough for that and I plan to give LawGuru.com a glowing review because of it! Sincerely, Janel Webster"
More About: Kudos

How Far Do you Go To Cooperate With the Police
2007-09-07 02:56:00
This topic is really related to juveniles and their parents, but it can be correlated to adults cooperating with police as well. I have seen juveniles end up in serious trouble, more than necessary, because their parents allowed too much police cooperation. The scenario involves
More About: The Police , Police , Rate

Public Utilities and Consumer Rights
2007-08-29 07:23:00
Did you know that Cons umer s Energy can transfer a debt from another consumer's account to yours or your client's and if payment is not made, a shut off notice will follow? What should you do you do in this situation?
More About: Utilities , Public , Rights

Public Utilities and Consumer Rights - Michigan
2007-08-29 07:23:00
Did you know that Consumer s Energy can transfer a debt from another consumer's account to yours or your client's and if payment is not made, a shut off notice will follow? What should you do you do in this situation?
More About: Utilities , Public , Rights , Michigan

Small Claims Court
2007-08-17 04:09:00
For those persons considering filing a complaint in small claims court because it is said to be cheaper and easier than to hire an attorney, here is food for thought on the matter. Claims that are filed in small claims court could just as well been placed on the regular civil docket. If your case is on the regular civil docket, you do not give up the right to
More About: Small , Court , Civil

Michigan Cyber Court
2007-08-12 06:34:00
Did you know that Michigan has a CYBER COURT, created in law at MCL 600.8001 - 8028 and entered into law in 2002?! As the law says, the purpose of the court is to allow commercial disputes to be resolved with the expertise, technology, and efficiency required by the information age economy. Virtual court facilities are established, allowing court filing and proceedings to be conducted electronically. In Cyber Court , the only means of a hearing is

Habitual Offender
2007-08-09 05:46:00
The Michigan habitual offender statutes provide that individuals convicted of 'a felony, an attempt to commit a felony, or both,' who subsequently commit another felony, are subject to sentence enhancement. MCL 769.10-769.12. If the prosecutor intends to seek enhancement of sentence, he must
More About: Offender , Abit , Fender , Offend , Habit

Michigan Attempt to Commit a Crime
2007-08-02 06:16:00
The crime of attempt reduces the punishment. In some cases this does nothing. Consider a juvenile defendant age 12 charged with a 5-year felony. At the pretrial, the prosecutor offers an attempt with the selling point being that the maximum punishment is reduced. This is essentially an empty offer as to this defendant because
More About: Crime , Michigan , Rime , Temp

Larceny
2007-07-30 19:16:00
This crime consists of a taking, and carrying away, of tangible personal property, of another, by trespass, with intent to permanently deprive. The property must be personal property, it must be tangible, and it must have some value. The property has to be taken from someone with possession. If the taker has custody of the item, as where the item has been borrowed and then never returned, then it is not larceny. On the other hand, if the property is lost or mislaid, it could be larceny because it is regarded as constructively in the possession of the owner. Abandoned property has no owner and cannot be the subject of larceny. Furthermore,

Life Expectancy
2007-07-26 20:29:00
In personal injury and medical malpractice cases, 'life expectancy' is an important issue in determining damages. Experts will determine the damages of the plaintiff in reference to the life expectancy of an average individual living under the same conditions. Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average number of years a person has before death, which can be calculated from any specified age. An expert on life expectancy will be consulted to determine the average number of years the plaintiff is expected to live. www.lifeexpectancy.com is a common source used, but certainly not as good as consulting a live expert. For example, according to the software, Life Expectancy 1.0, the life expectancy in the U.S. for a 58-year-old male in year of injury 1992 is 20.4 years and each year as medicine advances, life expectancy increases about .1 per year. The software allows the generation of a subjective life expectancy based upon a profile created by the user. Using thi...
More About: Damages