(06/08) HOTL Hour 1

Handel on the Law, Marginal Legal Advice. 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is handle on the law,marginal legal advice where I tell you you
have absolutely no case. Okay,here's a fun one. Occasionally I throw
you stuff that is very serious orreally going to affect us big time,
a Supreme Court case or an AppealsCourt case, or something has been filed,
or an ordinance that has been passedthat's going to affect you. Sometimes

(00:24):
they're just hilarious, where the lawis just fun. Okay, this one
is just fun. Fair enough,Okay. This is in the state of
Washington, and there is or they, yes, there is a man who
what is his name? Corey Harrisis his name. And here's what happens

(00:49):
and did happen during COVID, andthat is many people in fact appeared in
court by not appearing in court.They did it via zoom, They did
it via teams meeting just because itwas just dangerous to go to court.
And that law in Washington expired orthey overturned it, and now leaving it

(01:11):
up to the judge, a judgecan still maintain a zoom appearance, and
especially in minor cases, in caseof motions, hearings, whatever. Okay,
So now you have Corey Harris,who is asked to come to a
hearing for violation of driving without alicense. All right, So the video

(01:33):
begins with the judge Cedric Symptom,waiting for Corey Harris, the defendant.
Though this is Michigan hearing in annArbor, Michigan. Sorry I conflated the
geography here. And so Harris joinsthe call and he says hello, and
it looks like he is steering acar, wearing sunglasses and has a seat
belt on. So the judge says, mister Harris, are you driving?

(01:57):
And he said, I'm pulling intomy doctor's office, actually, so just
give me one second. I'm parkingright now. The judge is looking at
him, Wow, you're driving andyou're appearing on you can't drive without a
license, violation of that law thatyou got tagged with. So, by

(02:21):
the way, this is not unusual. There was a case of a doctor
joining a hearing he had to froman operating room in the middle of a
surgery and attorney showing up with acat crawling all over him. I mean,
it's just really fun stuff. Thisone is let's just say this one

(02:42):
is unusual. So the judge,after Harris parks, says, are you
stationary now and he said, I'mpulling in right now this second, and
the judge just laughed. I mean, what do you do with that?

(03:06):
I love those. That's like apeering away of cases all the time.
You have defendants appearing on drunk drivingcharges, which is a very serious event,
showing up in court drunk snookerd.Now go figure, okay, Fleen,
case number one this morning. Allright, let's go ahead and answer

(03:28):
a phone call or to Lauris oris that l RaSE? How do I
pronounce that? Laurice? Hello,Lrace? What can I do for you?
We have a weekly activity on ourproperty and we do not allow more
than five people at a time.They always have to sign a release a

(03:51):
liability. I was wondering when theysign a release a liability, is that
good for just that one week?Or I need to because I've been having
them assign it every single week andsomebody said, well, you know I
signed it last week. It'll begood. Yeah. Let me ask you
release of liability from what, Larise? What is the concern? Well,

(04:14):
if somebody gets hurt out there,if they don't sue us, I mean
get her house fall down. Wehave a motorcycle track on our property.
Oh and oh and they ride motorcycles, correct there? Okay, all right,
so if someone gets hurt on yourproperty, okay, that makes sense.
No, they just have to signit once. By the way,
how much insurance do you have?Quite a bit? That's what you want?

(04:38):
A million? Yeah, that's whatyou Yeah, because in the end,
even with waivers being signed, releaseof liability, someone is banged up,
someone is hurt. Oh you aregoing you're looking at a law suitcome
hell or high water. Now thisrelease does the release of liability help enormously?
Does it stop someone from suing you? Not at all? Well,

(05:01):
that's I didn't finish. And wedo not allow anybody under eighteen to ride
just because we heard that. That'sreally, you know, a worse.
There's a lot I don't think so. Parents, No, you can get
parents' permission. No. The problemwith anybody signing a document if as a

(05:23):
minor is not particularly upheld. You'reright on that one. To be more
concerned. But you're doing everything right. You are handling no more than five
people on the track. You're askingfor a waiver. Now, keep in
mind that if you get hurt,or if someone does get hurt, they're
going to argue design defect that thereason they got hurt is because you design

(05:48):
the track wrong and they're the liabilitywaiver doesn't mean a whole lot. This
is where your insurance kicks in.Okay, So let me put it this
way. It doesn't stop you frombeing sued if someone is really hurt.
It does help you in terms ofthe lawsuit or a liability. And they

(06:10):
only have to sign it once.Okay, thank you so very much.
Yet, because I was making thedo it no sign, No, you
don't sign it out every time.Although let me tell you why. It
doesn't hurt to have it every timebecause it is a reminder. So your
insurance comes in and there you havea plaintiff who has been hurt, broke
a leg or whatever and can't argueI signed it a year ago when I

(06:32):
forgot No, no, you signedit every week so you are reminded,
so you don't have to have itsigned every week. It's just one general
man, but it doesn't hurt itreally need just have them date the same
one each time, you know,yeah, and initially sure, have him
date and initially sure? Okay,yeah, Gary, welcome. What can

(06:55):
I do for you. How youdoing, Bill? Hey, the house
adjace to me, my neighboring house, was condemned and ordered destroyed by the
city. They hired a destruction contractorwho came out and leveled the house,
but due to time constraints, onthe day that that work was done,

(07:16):
he piled up the rubbel of thehouse to be removed in another day or
so. The night of the destruction, the rubble pile was set on fire,
and yeah, and the house.The wall of my house facing that

(07:39):
burning pile of rubble melted the entirevinyl siding off of my house and destroyed
two of my vinyl windows in thehouse. Fortunately, no structural damage other
than the siding and the windows.So I file an insurance claim. I
got a five deductible. Okay,why didn't you want didn't you make a

(08:00):
claim or file acclaim with the constructioncrew and say I'm going to sue you
turn this over to your insurance carrier. I have not done that, but
that was one of my yeah youdo that for crims that I thought of
post filing a claim with my insurance. Okay, all right, well all
right. That's the first thing youdo is you say, hey, turn
this over to your insurance carrier.So now the insurance carrier is going to

(08:26):
have to sue them, because there'ssomething called a subrogation agreement that if the
insurance company pays you, they havethe right to go after the wrongdoer.
So they're going to turn around andsue the insurance company and get their money
back. How big was the damage? Well, I've had the contractor from

(08:46):
siding out. I'm not sure aboutmy mind. Forget, forget, I
don't care about that. How bigis it? How big is the deductible?
Gary? Okay? All right?So what's your question? Uh?
Who? Yeah, think you alreadyanswered it. I go after the contractor
that or the insurance company or thebonding company from the contractor that did the

(09:09):
first of all you call it wouldn'tbe the bond it would be the insurance
company. Uh. You contact yourinsurance company and put put the claim on
hold, pending you turning it over, pending you suing, or going to
the contractor and saying, hey,you've got insurance here, You give me

(09:31):
your insurance company, and you startnegotiating with the insurance company. Now,
a much easier way of doing itis. Now here's what I do.
I usually turn it over my insurancecompany. Uh if my DEDUCTI if my
deductible is low enough. Because withyour insurance company, I mean, you're
not dealing with any hassle. You'renot. It's you're basically done. But
you suck up the Uh, yousuck up the deductible. Now, with

(09:54):
your insurance companies permission, you cango after the guy in small claims for
the deductible. That you can do. But it's a little complicated because usually
when you have an insurance company andthey pay off, that's it. Everything
is over. But some insurance companieswill so so those are your choices.
You suck it up and pay thefive hundred dollars, and you do it

(10:15):
very quickly, and you don't worryabout it, although you're going to get
in a fight with either insurance companybecause they're going to tell you your damages
are exactly five hundred and two dollars, we'll pay two dollars of it.
You pay the first five hundred becauseof your deductory. Yeah, it depends
on the insurance. Yeah, wellnot really. I mean I've I have
Mercury insurance, and every time I'vegotten into some kind of an accident.

(10:39):
I just generally turn it right overthem, and they've been terrific about it,
you know. So it depends onyour insurance company. All right,
okay, so try all right,that's what you want to do. Yeah,
you know it's not that simple,but you know, try to get
the other side to pay all thetime, unless you know what the hassle.
No, unless you want to suckup the deductible. Tim welcome to

(11:00):
handle on the law, Hi Bill, Good morning, Go ahead. So
I was in an establishment a coupleweeks ago and I was approached by loss
Prevention and they asked me if anythingwas going on. Of course I answered

(11:24):
no, and the next thing Iknow, they're questioning me, and I
didn't say anything because I didn't knowwhat they're talking about. And a couple
of minutes later, the police showup and they want to arrest me for
larceny. So they actually did theybased on why wait wait, wait,
wait wait, what were you accusedof stealing? To this moment, I

(11:50):
don't know. They didn't tell me, and larceny usually is shoplifting. Okay,
So at this point you have noidea. You were just arrested and
they you don't know have you been. It's crazy. So it's just larceny
and no other information. We've justarrested you for larseny. Thank you,
nothing was taken. They didn't gothrough you. They go They didn't ask

(12:11):
you to empty your pockets and showthem nothing, right, right, Okay?
Please did take me and book meand release me under my own reconnaissance.
Okay. And I'm fifty seven yearsold, I'm a military veteran.
I've never been in trouble my wholelife, okay, And so that that's
what I'm dealing with right now.And I'm just my question to you is

(12:33):
what should I do on my own? Okay? Here's what I suggest you
do is you show up at thehearing and you talk to the prosecutor and
say, I didn't have anything onme? What am I accused of doing?
You don't need a lawyer at thatpoint. What you are able to
do is ask for a continuation,say your honor. I assuming that they

(12:56):
have something and they're going to goforward, and I don't understand how they
can go forward with this one withoutany proof whatsoever, I mean none,
I mean I don't know how they'regoing to go forward. They may hopefully
drop it right there. But ifthey don't and they're going to go forward,
you're in front of the judge.You know, how do you plead?
And you go, your honor,I want more time to find an
attorney. I can't find one,and the judge will give it to you,

(13:18):
okay, or you'll plead not guiltyand the judge says you have to
plead, although again, you know, I don't know how a judge would
not give you more time to findan attorney. And then if you have
to find an attorney, then yougo out and you find an attorney,
or if you're really poor, youdo the public defender. But for the
life of me, I don't knowwhat they're charging with. Will not tell
you what you did. I meanthat is that's a star chamber business.

(13:43):
You know, I don't get it, but that's the advice I give you.
This doesn't sound right, you know, I mean in a democracy,
right, doesn't that sound a littlebit tough? This is handle on.
Oh, let me tell you aboutSelman's Thanks Jacob before we take a break.

(14:03):
U. Over the last several months, you've heard me talk about Zellman's
breath freshener. And you know I'vebeen telling you, you know, get
it, get it, get it, and some of you have, some
of you have not. Well,let me suggest try it. Uh.
It is a true breath freshener.And this is all about the future.
The foods you eat in addition toyour bad breath in your mouth because it

(14:26):
has mint on the outside, yousuck on, you suck off the mint,
and then you swallow these capsules orsmall capsules. You can also bite
into them, and what they dois clean the breath up in your mouth
and then from your gut because thefoods you eat sometimes and do cause bad
breath. So you're talking about abreath freshener, not just a mint clinically
tested against the toughest offenders, evengarlic and onions. I use these all

(14:50):
the time, so you're still gonnahate me, but I have good breath.
That's what Zelman's is all about.Money back guarantee, never seen anybody
use that. Multiple packs, freeshipping. You're going to use that.
Go to Zelmans dot com z LM I n S Zelmans dot com and
when you use the code handle,fifteen percent off. When you use the

(15:15):
code handle and do that. Pleasego to Zelmans dot com Zelmans Z E
L M I N S. Zelman'sdot com. Hello, Phyllis, welcome
to handle on the law. Hi. I had a little problem with the
air conditioning installation for three air conditioners, and we didn't realize that we needed

(15:37):
a permit until I reread the contractand I was wondering if the install has
had any responsibility for checking to makesure I got our permits. Yeah,
you would think so. The contractsays you need a permit, right,
correct? And it probably and itprobably says that you are responsible for getting

(16:00):
the permit if you read the amI right. Okay, How on the
on the computer when our screener talkedto you and then puts it on my
my screen, you say that it'sin small print? Correct? Correct,
it's small? How small? Small? Oh it's not. It's the same

(16:26):
size as the rest of the country. Okay, So it's not small print,
it's the same size contract. Okay, So you are legally responsible.
However, what does an air conditioningcompany do installing a system without a permit
in its hands? I don't that'sthe question, and that's the question,

(16:47):
and that's the question. You're goingto ask because you have to get a
permit you can have. You cannothave a non permitted air conditioning system.
I mean, you just can't fora whole bunch reasons. If it let's
say it blows up or whatever andthere's no permit, the insurance company says,
no, thank you, you didn'tpermit it. If you ever want

(17:07):
to sell the place, you haveto disclose. There's no permit here.
So there's a bunch of stuff goingon. I would call Building in Safety,
the city Building in Safety and askthe question, if my installer did
not get a permit, who paysthe fine, if at all? And

(17:32):
they may just wave the fine andused to ask for a permit and the
guy comes out and it looks likeit's meeting code, and you know,
you get a permit after the fact, and they wave the fact they didn't
get permit before. But I wouldcall because I don't know you're building in
safety. What city are you in. I'm in Arizona. I have no
idea what they do in Arizona.I looked it up. I actually get

(17:55):
a fine if I don't have it. Okay, how big is the fine?
I didn't look that up. Iwas afraid to call. Then they
don't. You call in it's hypothetical, and you call from a friend's number,
you don't call from yours. Andthen give them a fake name,
and if they ask you for address, give them a fake address, and
they're gonna go out there and don'tworry about it. You know, as

(18:17):
long as you don't say, thisis my address, this is where I
live, and I don't have apermit. You're not gonna say that.
But the general rule is they shouldn'thave installed. You should have gotten a
permit. But you don't know how. You see, here's the other one.
You go, I've never gone andgotten a permit. I don't know
what that's about. You guys areinstalling the air conditioning system. I think

(18:40):
you're gonna be okay, and they'regonna probably have to probably pay the fine
I would get. Now, you'regonna pay the permit fee because you owe
it anyway, so it's only goingto be the fine, and if it's
not huge, just suck it upand don't get into it, or you
tell these guys listen, I'm gonnareport you to the contractor's word if you
don't, because you screwed me,and I'm going to go give you a

(19:03):
YELP review. You can't accuse themof, you know, being the flakes.
All you can accuse them of doingis not getting a permit for you.
Okay, So should I have handedit? Should they have checked when
they came to install that I hadit? Yeah, they should have had
it in your hand. They shouldn'thave installed without a permit. Yeah,

(19:25):
okay, Oh absolutely, God,I've gotten some good questions. I can't
make fun of anybody. What's goingon with this? This is very depressing.
Hey, Tom, welcome to handleon the law. Yeah, my
son was legally detained and arrested ornot iding in a tropic stop. Okay,
so let me tell you. Tellme what happened. Tell me what

(19:48):
happened. Here's Heresue mar Son wasa passenger. Yeah, his girl Kriend
was driving the car and on SierraI were in fantastic in California. Long
stories short, so uh they pullout their cameras their cell phones when the
cop approached the window. So Ithink immediately the cop didn't really appreciate that.
Long story short, Sure, sohe went he gave it. He's

(20:11):
getting it. Given the ticket tomy girl, my son's girlfriend, and
then comes around to my son's side. The passenger side said, sir,
let me see your ID. Andmy son knows the laws right and he
knows the ones in California. Hehasn't committed to car welse, he's just
a passenger, doesn't have to turnover the idea he says, okay.

(20:33):
He said, uh, young man, I'm gonna uh get out of the
car. I'm going to handcuff youand put you in the back of my
car. He he refused, Waita second, he refused to turn over
the license. Correct, No,the girl, the girlfriend was on you're
confusing me. The Did the copask your son, who is a passenger

(20:56):
for his driver's license to check hisID? Yes? Okay? So did
he say to say Did he sayno? Yeah, okay, you're okay?
So he refused to turn over theID based on the law that says
you don't have to all right,So he was arrested. All right,

(21:17):
they handcuffed him. Did they arresthim or just put him into uh right
there and they gave him Miranda warningsand arrested him. Yeah, they're putting
in the back of the car,hand back and then his girlfriend said,
well, get your supervisor out here. This is illegal breaking your own law
here. Yeah, so long storyshort, they kept telling my son,
well, I'm gonna put you downas John Doe. We're going to take

(21:40):
you down the station. Since youwon't ide yourself, it could take a
couple of days before you get Okay, you got a long story short.
We want to file a suit andI want to we want to get his
qualified ammus. When they let whendid they let him go? Well,
actually they let him let him goforty five minutes after they are okay,
so he never so he went downto the station. He was in the

(22:03):
back of the police car for fortyfive minutes, Right, they take him
to the st I understand, Iget it. You don't have to repeat
it. I understand what happened.How long was he in the back of
the police car. Thirty minutes?Okay, So they just let him go.
They put him under arrest and thenjust let him go. Never went
to court, nothing, right,they just let him go. Yeah,

(22:23):
Okay, your son is absolutely right. He didn't have to show id uh.
And that's like poking a cop inthe chest and going, hey buddy,
I pay your salary. How didthat work out for him as opposed
to just showing the ID. Iunderstand the law says you don't have to,

(22:45):
but you're really going to get itwith a police officer and start arguing
the law? No, no,he wasn't arguing at all. But but
wait a second. You told mehe refused to turn He he refused to
turn the driver license. Correct,he wasn't driving the car? Bill he
okay, one more time, onemore time, he refused to give his

(23:08):
ID to the cop. Correct.Okay, And even though he is,
he is in the right. Isit worth it to get into it with
the cops, even if you knowyou're right? It is? And here's
why, Bill, since I retired, I've seen a couple of hundred YouTube
videos or what these cops have beendoing. Okay, it's right. I'm

(23:33):
not going to argue. I'm notgoing to argue. Do I think he's
going to get anything? Absolutely not. Do I think that the judge is
going to say or a jury's goingto say, you're absolutely right, you're
in the right. So what we'lldo is you email me and I'm going
to give you the name of somecivil rights attorneys who are going to ask
for a ten thousand dollars retainer rightup front, and it's going to cost

(23:56):
you to cost him tens of thousandsof dollars to prove his point back again,
isn't it worth it? Wasn't itworth it? I think it was.
I'm just telling you sometimes it's justnot what he just wants to argue
with me and argue with me,and just what happens Don hello, don
welcome, Hi, Hi there.He I've got a brother that has no

(24:18):
savings, no cash. The onlything he has is and asked that is
a piece of property. And thequestion is should he and he's getting up
there and he's not very healthy,should he? Should we? Should he
create a will for that to cometo me? Or should trust be created?

(24:40):
And the second part of the questionis what is the difference between a
will and the trust? All right? All right? How much is the
property worth? Don the ten acresin the Sierra Nevada? Maybe half a
million? Maybe seven? All right? So I don't know, I mean,
you're on the border what he's worthkilling or not? Once the trust

(25:00):
or a will is okay, fairenough, okay, it really it doesn't
matter the difference in a trust anda will. A will goes through probate
and is supervised by a court,and you have to file the will and
their fees and it takes a whileand the court has to say okay,
has okay. The transfer a trusthappens virtually immediately. He names a trustee

(25:26):
that's going to give it to you. If you're the only beneficiary, you
can be the trustee that's going tohand it over to you. He writes
the trust. He transfers the propertyinto the trust, so he doesn't own
it anymore. The trust does.There may be some taxation involved. I
don't know. You want to talkto a tax person on that one.

(25:47):
Probably not. And then when hedies, you is the trustee. You
change the name of the ownership fromthe trust to you and that's it.
Whether we're and with the quarters youput the affidavid of death of the test
the trust over and you know oneis easier, no court, no fees,

(26:10):
and the other one is fairly simple. Just it doesn't matter. It
really doesn't matter. And you're anyother siblings you have no okay, so
it's okay, Yeah, that's easy, so it doesn't matter. Take your
choice. I don't think there's adifference, you know. I mean if
it's complicated stuff, you know,like I I put everything in a trust,

(26:33):
you know, for my kids,because it's just easier to change a
trust, which I do every weekwhenever I'm not happy with one of them.
I have twins, and so everyweek the other one gets all the
money and I tell them, youknow what, I don't like you anymore.
Your sister is getting at all.And the next week it goes the
other way. Jenny, Hi,Jenny, Hi, Hello, Yes,

(26:59):
hello, you know what, Jenny. Here's what I'm going to do.
How old are you? Can Iask? You asked me this last time?
Eighty eight? Okay, eighty eight. So here's what I want to
do. I want to make surewe have a chance. So I'm going
to have you hold on until afterthis break because I want to give you
plenty of time and you're going toneed it obviously, So do me a

(27:22):
favor. Don't die between now andwhen we come back, because I really
like to take this phone call.Okay, all right, thank you very
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(27:42):
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(28:03):
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(28:25):
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handle on the law