Ask the Law Guy

My husband and I legally separated 18 months ago. In our separation agreement, I let him have our house, as I could not afford it on my income. We had bought the home 7 months prior, and when we separated, I moved out and got a place of my own.

The problem is, that the home was titled only in my name. He was to have refinanced within a certain time period and I was to deed it to him at that point, and he has failed to do so, breaching our separation agreement. In the 18 months, most of the payments have been late, several have been over 30 days late, and now he has not paid a mortgage payment since November, and the mortgage company is starting foreclosure proceedings (for the second time in the 18 months).

He agrees (reluctantly) that we need to sell the house as he can no longer afford it. We put out a sign for sale by owner. However, he is not cooperating as far as being available to show the home, and will not grant me access so I can take some pictures and make brochures. I have had a lot of inquiries and interest in the home, but potential buyers lose interest quickly when they realize what a hassle this is, and I can't get them into the home.

I have explained to him that the loss or gain from sale or foreclosure will be split, and I will go after him for any monies I can if he doesn't help me with the sale.

He doesn't seem to care, and is enjoying a rent free home while trashing my credit. How can I evict him?? We do have not rental agreement, only the separation agreement stating that he is to assume ownership and all financial responsibility for the home.

What happens in a situation like this??

It is difficult to get satisfaction in cases such as this. Usually clients need to cut their losses in cases like this but they get focused on "getting justice" or "making him pay" meanwhile their situation deteriorates. I'm going to make some assumptions and then give you my advice:

Assumption 1: Your ex does not have significant assets (if he did he would have paid to keep a roof over his head).

Assumption 2: You do not have unlimited ability to pay an attorney to take it to this guy.

My advice: Your ex has breached the agreement by failing to pay the mortgage and re-finance. As a consequence you can sue him for the breach and seek to have him evicted from the home. This will take several months most places. Not a good option.

Ask if the lender will accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure. This means the lender would accept the house in settlement of the debt. If they won't, stop trying to sell the house and let the foreclosure go forward. If after the foreclosure, you still owe money on the house consider whether filing bankruptcy will give you a fresh start. This is really the "least bad" option. What you really need is to put this behind you and focus on the future.

Hello from Grand Haven, Michigan. Over 7 years it seems that I have received 7 parking tickets for parking on the public roads between 2 a.m. -6 a.m. This is a $5 fine if paid within 14 days . ... I have been cited before for the same thing and paid, just not all of them. There is a chance that 1 or 2 of the tickets had blown away from the weather or what ever.

Regardless the 7 tickets are delinquent or defaulted and now the price is $360 or 1000% from the original fine. I am wondering what are the statute of limitations for grossly over charged late fees? What about "fair debt collection act" ... Is there anything I can do legally so I do not get ripped off by the 58th district court. 1000% is unheard of for any type of debt.

Here's the problem with fighting city hall: the city writes the rules and it does not write them in ways that favor citizens. Ticket revenues are a significant revenue producer for some cities and governments guard revenues jealously. Assuming that you are not willing to spend many times the amount of the tickets on attorney fees, hiring an attorney to defend you is not feasible. The Fair Debt Collection Act does not apply here. You could contact the city parking department and see if any of the late fees can be waived or reduced. All they can say is no. If not, pay up.

I recently separated from my husband due to the fact he was abusing drugs. I want to file seperation papers with the intent of divorce. He, of course, does not want the seperation or divorce and is refusing to sign any papers. I do have young children involved and want this resolved as easily and quickly. What can I do if anything if he contests the separation and divorce?

The only ground for divorce in North Carolina is one-year's separation. You do not need to have a separation agreement or have "separation papers" to seek a divorce once you have been separated for a year.

I assume your immediate concern is custody of the children and child support. Since you are now living apart you can now go to court to seek child support, post-separation support and custody of the children. Since your husband is not cooperating you will probably have to sue for support, so the sooner you get started the sooner you will start getting support.

It is probably unrealistic to expect this to be resolved easily or quickly.

My mother died suddenly (July 2002) and owed several credit card companies varying amounts. I notified each company that the respective credit card had been destroyed and that no further activity would occur. Some bills came, but then all stopped but two. One of the two filed a claim early on with the courthouse to settle the account. I've not heard from them since the time that the claim was filed. The other company uses a collections attorney -- they didn't send any communications for almost a year. I just recently received a form letter requesting an update.

I, as executor, have since probated the will and disbursed the estate between my two siblings.

Does the estate owe this debt? I get "words of wisdom" from many sources. The probate attorney said the debt is unsecured, but that a company may file to collect or may go as far as to sue the estate. Others in the lay world say the debt is totally unsecured and not owed by the estate.

I kept money back (enough to cover the two debts) with the understanding and agreement from my brothers that this would be used to settle with the two companies if necessary. Frankly, they'd rather not have to pay, but if we have to, we have to. I have been overwhelmed with everything else to the point that I've neglected this...

Can you help? If so, I thank you in advance.

The best advice is what you get from the probate attorney. This is because he is familiar with the precise facts of your situation and probate is not my usual area of practice. If anything I say contradicts his advice, follow his advice.

I am only licensed in North Carolina and laws vary from state to state. In order to distribute the assets and pay the liabilities of a deceased person an estate is created. The executor's job is to pay the liabilities out of estate assets and after that is done, transfer to assets to those named in the will or who will inherit under the laws of intestate (without a will) succession. Creditors of the estate usually have a certain period to file claims against the estate. After the deadline for filing the executor may distribute the estate assets and the creditors will be out of luck. This is not because their claims are not genuine but because at that point there are no estate assets to satisfy the debt

Since you have held back enough to pay the debts check with the probate attorney to find out if the late filing means that the claims are barred. If there is nothing that bars the claims then the estate will have to pay.

My mother takes care of my two sons during the day. Often they act up in the car. As a result, she pulls over and stops with her blinkers on to try to calm them down. Typically, she is less than a mile from a gas station or store where she can park safely. She insists that this is safe for her to do. She is doing this on city streets in Charlotte where there is no shoulder. Cars will have to swerve to avoid her in most cases. She says it's an "emergency" because they are driving her crazy. I tell her she needs to stop in a safe place like a parking lot. Is there any law that says she is wrong? Is there data supporting that this is unsafe for her to do? I am so afraid an inattentive or drunk driver will slam into her stopped car!!!

There are state laws which prohibit obstructing traffic. If she is pulling over in areas where she is blocking the road, she is breaking the law. The real issue for you though whether she is exercising the kind of care for your kids that you want her to. If she won't follow your guidelines about driving with the kids you might have to find other child care arrangements. Also maybe you and she can find a way to keep the boys from acting up in the car, it sounds like the current strategy may not be working.

Hello. My name is Matthew Arnold. I am majoring in business and economics. I just got through with yet another enlighting ECON class, and i have a burning question to ask that no one can seem to agree on. I thought that I read (years ago) a passage in a ECON book that US business must accept US Federal Notes (M1). I live here in Port Huron, Michigan and I come across daily vendors refusing to accept $50 and $100 bills.

One in particular (Speedy Q Market) on tenth street in Port Huron does 24 hour business with a large volume of cash. Every ten minutes they do a drop. When someone comes into the store with a $50 they are told NO! and are refered to the sign on the door. This dosen't seem right. Is this legal?

Thank you (big fan)

Since I have always been math-averse I avoided economics, and all of my knowledge of economic theory comes from Art Benavie , who taught my introductory Econ class at UNC-CH. He was bald and often wore turtlenecks, which sometimes resulted in disturbing imagery. Fortunately I don't think the answer to the question requires economic knowledge.

It is common for businesses to restrict the kind of currencies they will accept -- no rolled pennies or $100 bills for example. As far as I can see, this is legal. When a business advertises its willingness to engage in transactions, the law generally considers that an invitation for a potential customer to make an offer to purchase. A contract to make a purchase is not formed until the business accepts the customer's offer. Legally a contract consists of an offer, acceptance and consideration (something of value) The business can limit its willingness with conditions -- no checks or $100 bills, for example.

U.S. currency does contain the words "the note is legal tender for all debts public and private." This has to do with the legal concept of "tender." In an existing contract, a tender is the offer of money to pay an obligation, triggering the other party's obligation to perform. For example if you and I had agreed that you would be willing to explain what "irrational exuberance" meant provided I paid you $50 cash, my tender of the $50 would trigger your obligation to explain. If despite my legal tender, you refused to explain you would be in breach of the contract and I could then sue for damages.

Back to the Speedy Q. The store has no obligation to sell gas to anyone, it merely announces that there is gas available for purchase on certain terms. Only when the customer comes in and offers to purchase and the store accepts, is there a contract. The customer should be aware of the currency limit which is a term of the purchase contract. I suppose a state or local ordinance could require stores to accept certain forms of currency, but I have never heard of one.

It would be an interesting test case if someone attempted to tender an unusual denomination to satisfy an obligation, for example paying back taxes to the IRS entirely in pennies. Theoretically it seems that the IRS should have to accept the legal currency to satisfy the tax debt, even though it might be burdesome to count.


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