Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to handle on the law. Marginal legal advice.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Now, if you've been watching the news at all, you
know what's happened recently over the last few days.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
It's been a mess with these wildfires.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And what I want to do is concentrate a little
bit about the legal aspect that was going on.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
They're going to be a couple of them.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
One you're going to see lawsuits file the ens insurance
companies because of replacement value.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
House.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
A business is going to file a suit once it's
destroyed because the property was destroyed, and they're going to
go and see insurance company because there's going to be
an argument with the insurance company and the homeowner the
business owner. That's going to be a disagreement because that
happens all the time. The other one, which is more
complicated and more interesting, is suing the city because water
(00:51):
pressure wasn't there in many hydrants.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And the argument's going to be.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
If there had been enough water pressure sure in the system,
then my home would have been saved, and therefore you
are responsible the city of Los Angeles. Wow, believe me,
that's going to be litigated. Now, are there some offenses?
I think there are big defenses because every water system,
(01:19):
of firefighting water systems, those hydrants was never designed and
the whole water, the entire water firefighting system in a city,
never designed for anything like this anything, And so the
argument's going to be, we don't anticipate a conflagration like this,
which went way beyond our wildest dreams. What are firefighting
(01:45):
water system hydrants, reservoirs, et cetera. Are meant to fight
our individual fires or a small group of fires for
a limited amount of time.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
The big fires went on for days, over.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Hundreds of acres, thousands of acres, tens of thousands of acres.
The system was never designed for that, ever, And the
argument is going to be, well.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
You should have thought of it.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
For example, here we are in California, and the building
code basically built on a system where you build that
would resist seven point one seven point two.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
What if you get a ten point zero earthquake where there.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Was a building standing, you should have known. Wait a second,
we never anticipated this, No excuse. You should have known.
There should be a system in place that can deal
with something like this. And it doesn't matter if it
costs nine billion dollars. So I think that's a solid
(02:46):
defense now Mayor Bass Karen Vass City Los Angeles cut
seventeen million dollars from the fire department last year. That's
going to be an interesting conversation, and that's politically speaking.
Will that mean that the city is going to be
liable on that one? Probably not, I don't think so.
(03:06):
She had originally asked for twenty three million dollar cut
to the fire department, and the city council allowed up
to seventeen or I think the allowed seventeen million dollar
cut based on what she requested. There's gonna be a
lot of argument there. She was asked at various news
conferences and she just shut up.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
She was not going to respond.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
She would make no eye contact, and when she was asked,
the deflected like crazy. We believe in keeping Angelino safe.
It's our first concern is keeping our citizens safe.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
What does that mean? You cut the budget and then
deflection and no answer. But typical politician and that's what
she is, first and foremost.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, let's go ahead and take some phone calls here.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Dan, Hello, Dan, welcome to handle on the law.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Bill.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Yes, yeah, I've got a house that I rented out
and it was completely destroyed by the renters, and I
went to claim it on my insurance, and that my
insurance is telling me that since the damage was done
over time, they can't They can't just.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Take the whole you.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
Know, I spent like seventy thousand dollars on its plates.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
They can't take the whole amount.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
They have to treat each individual damage as its own
piece of That doesn't.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Make any sense because what happens.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Let's say they destroyed both the dishwasher, the refrigerator, and
the air conditioning at the same time. There's no way
to determine when the damage occurred. So how can the
insurance company say we are going to say this because
it happened at a different time than this.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
It doesn't make a lot of sense, Dan, So I
don't get it.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
The insurance company is making a determination as to when
the damage occurred.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
How do they know. Well, yeah, that's good.
Speaker 7 (05:09):
That's a good point.
Speaker 8 (05:10):
So you argue with because they just flat out denied
my claim.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
On Monday, So okay, what a shocker. They flat out
denied your claim. I've never heard of an insurance company
deny or claim seventy eighty thousand dollars worth a damage.
That's when you get a lawyer, my friend.
Speaker 7 (05:24):
Yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Or you get a public adjuster.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I'm talking a lot about public adjuster these days because
of the wildfire and the insurance companies dealing with you know,
tens of thousands of properties that are all involved with insurance.
So you'll hear me talk a lot about that because
everybody is going to need help on that. Everybody.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
This isn't a claim like you have.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
You have an individual claim where I say, Okay, get
a lawyer, do whatever. You have seventy thousand dollars with
the damage and you're gonna have to arbitrate it because
that's your Insuranran's uh, that's your policy, that's your contract.
But yeah, I mean their argument doesn't make any.
Speaker 9 (06:06):
Sense, Okay unless the policy.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Says, unless the policy outright says, uh, if there are
multiple issues of damage, we will separate them out and
give a timeline.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
And I don't think. I don't think that's the case.
I really don't.
Speaker 9 (06:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Uh, Jake, Hi, Jake, welcome. Yeah, thank you for taking Michael.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Okay, what can I do for you?
Speaker 5 (06:37):
I'm involved in a personal injury matter. Yeah, and it's
been a little while.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, how's long. What is a little while?
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Well, maybe my definition of a little while is different
than yours. You're pretty slow, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Okay? What is what's a little while?
Speaker 5 (06:57):
Low energy? This morning?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah? I can hear that. Okay, what's a little while?
Speaker 5 (07:03):
It's been about seven months?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Okay? And what happened in those seven months?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
That thing?
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I need the money?
Speaker 9 (07:10):
Now?
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Can I ask them?
Speaker 1 (07:12):
No, no, you can't.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
But what do you mean nothing happened? Did you make
a claim? Did you file a lawsuit?
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Did you make a demand? Do you have a lawyer?
There's a few questions there.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Yeah, the lawyer.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
I hired a person, okay. And what does the lawyer say?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 10 (07:29):
She had me go to her house, I mean her office,
and I signed all these forms okay.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And she hasn't talked to you in seven months. She
hasn't talked to you in seven months, right, Jake?
Speaker 8 (07:41):
Some some Hispanic lady with an accent.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Oh yeah, those accents really drive me nuts.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
You know that. I can't understand any of them either, Jake.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Those damn furners coming into this country, man, we don't
want those.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
Where's the money? Can I tell her to settle?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Are sure you can tell her to settle ten cents
on the dollar if you want, sure, you can tell
her and say, hey, I want money, now settle for
whatever I can get.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
Should I just keep waiting this?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yes, find out what's going on? Wow, Southern California people
with accents never heard that?
Speaker 5 (08:22):
You know?
Speaker 1 (08:22):
How many way if we have a hundred languages.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
That are spoken here in Southern California, God, I love it. Yeah,
you think he has a flag, a Confederate flag in
front of his house.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
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Speaker 2 (08:37):
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Speaker 1 (08:48):
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Speaker 2 (08:50):
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Speaker 1 (09:13):
Hi, Lisa, Welcome to the show Hi.
Speaker 7 (09:16):
I was calling because I live in a new billed
town home community mall eighty eight units. We are becoming
to the point that it will be turned over to
the owners. That means, well, the builder is going to
step away and the management of the community is going
(09:39):
to be handed over to the owners.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Well, yeah, that's always the case because you have an HOA.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Once a certain number, once a certain number of units
are sold, the owner of the property is the HOA.
And then once critical mass there's enough people to form
an HOA, it's turned over to the owner of the property.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Now they run the HOA. That's the way it works.
Speaker 7 (10:03):
That's where we are.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Okay, what's your question? What's your question?
Speaker 7 (10:06):
There's a line of there's a line of trees that
are half dead and ready to fall on the west
side of our community. And the builder is saying he's
going to be doing landscaping. But I'm afraid he's well
we are all right, he's just going to walk away.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Okay, So what's your question, Lisa.
Speaker 7 (10:27):
Who's responsible for he is on a house?
Speaker 9 (10:31):
He is.
Speaker 7 (10:33):
Even after we take over.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
That's it, particularly after you take over, because now you
have one entity that sues on behalf of all of
you if it's a common area, and that's exactly what
you want. You don't want any individual suing. You want
all of you swing, and that's what the HOA does.
So you actually, it's happening exactly the way it should
(10:57):
be happening.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Mary, Hello, Mary.
Speaker 11 (11:03):
Hi Bill, I'm right here.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Oh here you go. All right.
Speaker 11 (11:10):
I've got a bill from my attorney. She's been working.
I've had her for about a year and a half.
A year and a half and working on a trust matter.
We're trying to get rid of the trustee who's my
brother and who's kind of fishy, and it's myself and
(11:36):
my nieces and nephews and sons. So there's a number
of us, but I have her, and then we have
another attorney for all the kids, so we have two
attorneys working. There has gone in litigation, it's gone to court.
It keeps going and going and going, and just recently
I got to build it just about maybe poop my pants.
(11:58):
It was her twenty thousand dollars. Okay, And I'm what's
your question. You know, I'm having a hard time wrapping
my head around that.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Par Thank you. Oh no, no, no, welcome to the world
of the law.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Let me tell you why. There is a course in
law school.
Speaker 9 (12:16):
Course.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
There's an actual course that teaches you how many zeros you.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Put on a bill?
Speaker 9 (12:24):
Oh brother, okay.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Lawyers charge anywhere from these days four hundred dollars an
hour up to one thousand dollars an hour, and depending
on how careful a lawyer is.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I mean, this sounds like a pretty complex case.
Speaker 9 (12:42):
How big is.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
The amount of money that you're talking about in this trust?
Speaker 11 (12:46):
Well, it's property, which isn't of several million.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Okay, so you're talking about a big case.
Speaker 11 (12:53):
You have a I'm not I'm not you know that,
a millionaire.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yeah, I understand.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
But you're going to be if you're recipient, if you're
a beneficiary of a site.
Speaker 11 (13:05):
I'm sorry, I said, by the time this is finish,
I'll probably be dead.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Well the other beneficiary certainly hope so, because they're going
to get your share.
Speaker 7 (13:17):
Okay, yeah, twenty thousand dollars bill.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
You have to simply look at it very carefully.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Maybe talk to someone who understands the understands how extensive
the lawyer's work was. I clearly understand you know what
lawyers what reasonable, but I don't care. I don't care
enough to even touch your case, so I'm not interested.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
But but you may.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Actually want to hire a lawyer for four or five
hundred bucks to simply say, hey, is this reasonable and
to read the bill because it is hourly I'm assuming,
and look at it and go, yeah, that's reasonable. Yeah,
that's reasonable. I mean I had a case recently which
I I I had to hire a lawyer. I cannot
believe the hours. Wait a minute, this doesn't make any sense.
(14:06):
And it did, it did, and I paid a big money.
You know, lawyers don't get any breaks. Now, we all
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(14:30):
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Speaker 1 (14:50):
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Speaker 2 (14:52):
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(15:13):
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Speaker 1 (15:19):
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and thank you for your patients very much.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
That sound like I.
Speaker 9 (15:53):
Hey, my doctor says that. When I refer people to it,
he says, Dave, thanks for your patients.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Oh Bill, good morning. No, no, that's that's not good. Okay,
you just went down ten points, all right. What can
I do for you?
Speaker 9 (16:04):
Dad? I had a broadband company installed a satellite dish
on my tile roof the other day was extraordinarily windy outside,
and I heard a thumbing on the roof. I went
outside and I looked and I saw it at the
base of the satellite dish was flapping against the roof.
(16:25):
I was concerned that the damage was going to be
caused by right, Okay, I able company.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
What was your question?
Speaker 9 (16:36):
My question is is the cable company responsible for any
damage to the roof.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
What was their damage to the roof done?
Speaker 9 (16:45):
I don't know yet.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, great question. Okay, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
If my grandmother, my grandmother, had nerds, she'd be my grandfather.
But she doesn't, so she's my grandmother. It hasn't happened yet.
Thanks for the call.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
Ah.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Oh good question here, Hi Denise, welcome. Hi.
Speaker 10 (17:05):
Yes, yes, Now with these fires, all they're homes are
being burned down and such. Now when they're rebuilt, do
they reassess the property tax?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
That's a very very good question.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
So I can tell you about La County, Orange County,
southern California, but I think virtually every county is the same.
The assessor's office taxes property based on the value of
the property. A house burnt down is zero value, so
the reassessment down to zero is not a problem. The
(17:40):
point is to reassess a home, a homeowner has to
apply to the assessor's office, who normally either makes an
inspection or does some kind of comparative or the market
goes down.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
That's happened during cycles.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
When the market has decreased and the property went down
twenty percent.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Then the assessor's office will reassess.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
At this point, we're so close to the fires in
terms of timeline that everybody's still trying to figure out
what happened. But yes, your home, those homes will be
reassessed down to virtually zero, which we will probably be
no property taxes, or the property taxes on a vacant
piece of land which is virtually nothing, or the assessor's
(18:26):
office will buy a matter of policy, simply say in
this area, we're going to go down to zero and
not accept or ask for property taxes, which, by the way,
considering what the county has to do to rebuild and
the property tax is where the vast majority of the
(18:47):
county's money comes into that's a double hit. Can you
imagine We're just starting to figure all of this out,
and it is. It's catastrophic, not only in terms of
damage in people losing their homes and their businesses, which
is well so in reference.
Speaker 10 (19:04):
To that when they are rebuilt, then they will be reassessed.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yes, they will be reassessed probably yes, to the value
of the home at that time.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yep, that's exactly what that's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Until then, I can't imagine the county assessor's office would not.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Would ever charge the same amount of money for taxes.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It's just a question of how long it takes because
it is a bureaucratic process.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Dave, Hello, Dave, welcome.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
Got a lot of.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Questions on fires.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Well, obviously a lot of it because of what happened
in southern California.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah, Dave, go.
Speaker 9 (19:42):
Ahead, good morning.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
Hey, I got a reasonable course here. There's still courage
fifty or sixty dollars of fire wellness is there and
all I don't have that kind of pockets. So what
is the repercussions for people that might have Yeah, that's
a problem.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Well, at the bottom line, if the insurance company doesn't
have money.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Now where do you go?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Now, probably you go to the state a lot of
I was talking to public adjuster yesterday as a matter
of fact, because I asked I'm asking the question because
these guys know how insurance works, and they represent homeowners
and business owners when making claims.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
And he was saying that a good portion.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Of the property that was destroyed was on the California
Fair Plan. And that's when your property can't be insured.
Insurance companies don't ensure a lot of property. They just
say no, thank you. Plenty of areas where you just
can't buy insurance or it is so exorbitant that well,
people buy into the California Fair Plan, which is a
(20:47):
state plan that is only fire insurance.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
No liability, not flood damage, not FAFT, nothing except fire
insurance as far as the insurance company is concerned. But
the point is, and you have a very good point,
what happens when you have an insurance company and the
entire area is wiped out and they're looking at let's
(21:15):
say eight ten billion dollars in losses and don't have
anywhere near the kind of reserves. And the answer is
I don't know. It's a good question. The answer is
I don't know. I can't imagine the state or the
FEDS wouldn't be involved. Can't imagine it either in pain
for it or certainly zero cost loans at really reduced
(21:39):
interest rates.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
All of it is horrible, horrible. It's a good question,
that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Oh, here's another one. Oh, this is a generic question
that's worth answering. Morris, Hello, Morris, welcome.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Yes, good morning. I was with all the electricity of
my house or three days and I have a lot
of spoilage my refrigerator. Can I apply for a claim
with DWP for a reimbursement or won't?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah? Well, what do they do wrong? Morris?
Speaker 3 (22:12):
They didn't do anything wrong? Right, they charge right?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
And are they going to charge you for electricity during
those days?
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Probably not.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
But in many cases, not only the fires, but the
potential for fires when you have huge wins, they shut
down electricity in certain areas, And the answer is no,
you can't. Now are there times when you can sure
when there's a power surge, for example, and your your
computers go out, you can make a claim if they
(22:42):
blow up a certain hall, if appliances blow up, but
your refrigerator only if they are at fault and do something.
There's nothing they did wrong. The power companies, man, they
were in the same position all of us were. This
is not maybe this is not a power line going
down into vegetationation where now the I think even the
(23:03):
law where the power polls have to be cleared of
vegetation for X number of feet or yards u PG
and E. Because they were they were credited, if you will,
for starting the fires up north.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Uh, they were hit.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
They they were convicted of a crime the company and
were hit with billions of dollars of fines.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
So you've got some rotten food and the freezer. I
hope you ate it.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
All right, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Yeah, you know, these are actually most of the questions
that I get during the show, ifiva, if you have
listened to this show for any length of time, And
by the way, this is not to offend callers.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Actually it is to offend callers. That's the whole point.
I get a whole lot of moronic questions.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
A matter of fact, those are the fine questions that
I get, you know, morons calling. But uh, these questions
regarding the fires, every one of them were good questions today,
and it's important stuff because here in southern California, I mean,
it is astounding. My children, for example, had to evacuate
(24:11):
and I was on the phone and it was.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It was pretty bad.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
It was very dear friends, you hear me do Zelman's commercials.
For example, the owners of Zelman's, who are dear friends
and have been for thirty years.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
They were in an area that.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Was completely consumed by fire and they were one of
a small group of homeowners that were not affected, thank goodness.
But looking around the neighborhood and it's just all horrible.
So I have to congratulate those of you who have
asked very good questions. I'm now I'm waiting for some moronic.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Questions because that's what makes the show.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
So please, I'm making a call, right, I have never
done this before. I am asking for you idiots to
call and ask idiotic questions because it is time. Hello, Nicole, welcome.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
What can I do for you? Oh?
Speaker 8 (25:06):
Hi, Bill, thank you for taking the call.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Sure, I think this is more of an opinion.
Speaker 8 (25:10):
Question, but I find it odd that we've heard nothing
about Tesla's and how they might the batteries burning up
because we know, all they can't be put out by water. Yeah,
and how much that may have contributed to.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Well, it's a good question, you know.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I mean it's more of a technical question, but I'm
going to move it towards a liability issue.
Speaker 5 (25:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
First of all, that's something that I haven't heard dealt with.
As I said, the fires having happened, and no one
expected anything like this. No one has ever experienced anything
like this in an area that was so dense with
businesses and homes and I mean tens of thousands. Can
you imagine what happened. So a lot of people have
(25:56):
Tesla batteries at home. I have one of them actually
in my home, and usually if you're talking about a
Tesla battery burning up or exploding or catching on fire
for whatever reason and the home in fact goes down, yeah,
there's liability. I think that this fire was to such
(26:18):
a huge level that anything that got in the way
was gone, Tesla batteries.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Anything was gone.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
So I don't see the issue there absent what happened. Yeah,
I think Tesla would be responsible for a battery that malfunctioned,
and the fire department knows how to deal with batteries
they know that these are lithium inside or whatever the
hell they had side, and so they don't put water
on them. They come out and there they see there's
(26:48):
a battery issue. So they use some kind of foam retardant.
So I don't see that problem. But for the fact
this was so big, I think it all throws up.
Speaker 7 (26:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (26:59):
I didn't even think about Tesla batteries in the home.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
What difference, What difference would it make if a Tesla
battery started burning up when the entire house has gone up?
So yeah, it's see these We're going to really deal
with this a long time. These are the questions I'm
getting today, and they're good.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Uh, they're good.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Okay, let's go back to our normal show where I
answer regular questions on this show.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Steve, Hello, Steve, all.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Right, good morning Bill. Yeah, the question about small claims case.
I filed a case against a local mechanic independent for
service you did on a vehicle over and above what
was written in the service contract. He subsequently has filed
for a dismissal motion to dismiss, and I believe that's
(27:52):
coming up. What I tried to google exactly what happens
at a dismissal. Hearing, the court.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Asked the person asking for dismissal on what basis are
you dismissing the case? And the rules are that there is,
as a matter of law, no case here. You're asking
for something outside of either the jurisdiction or outside of
what the law allows you to file, and so the
(28:23):
case would be dismissed. This is a question of fact.
Are they responsible? Are they not responsible? That's not dismissable,
that's going to lose. You just show up and you
have to answer it. This was you know, I've never
seen a dismissal, so I don't know if they kicked
it up to superior court. But you're not going Is
(28:43):
it in small claims court where the emotion is being argued,
then you just just say, your honor, this is a
matter of fact and a matter of fact in terms
of we're dealing with factual issues.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Did he not do this? Did he overcharge? Did he not?
Was he negligent? Was he not?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Those are the issues. Not you filed in the wrong jurisdiction.
You filed e motion that is not allowed under the law.
You it's bullyve me.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
You're gonna win on this one. Okay.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
I wondered if if I needed to write a rebuttal
in detail outside.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
I don't know, you know what, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I don't know about that. I think if you just
show up, that should do it. And that is a
question that I would ask the clerk of the court.
That's not a legal question. It's pursuant to the rules
of the court. Do I answer or do I just
show up in court? You should get that answer. So
contact the court and ask for the small claims clerk. Okay,
that's all I can tell you.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
That's what I would do.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
See people call up thinking I know what I'm talking about,
and it's one of those the.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Basis of this show.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
If you sound like you know what you're talking about,
usually you have credibility. See that's you do that on radio,
and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
This is handle on the law.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Oh before oh, let me do this before I get
out of here.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
I've got a spot to do.
Speaker 7 (30:15):
Let me.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I thought I didn't do that here, hold on it. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Oh,
you're right there, it is. Okay, let's start again. Before
I do This is handle on the law.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Bad breath of course, I'm talking about Zelman's that I've
talked about for months and months. Zelbans is the minty
mouth mint, and it's about your bad breath or someone
else's bad breath. And there's these little capsules that are
coated with mint that you pop two or three in
your mouth and the mint is sucked off the capsule
and then you swallow or bite into him and it
(30:49):
goes down in your gut, and that's whereby bad breath
can start does stay. And other men simply don't do that.
They don't deal with that problem at all. There's the
difference fresh clean breath for hours. That's what Zelman's does.
So until the fifteenth, which is just right around the corner,
if you buy a three pack or more, you're gonna
(31:10):
get a fourth pack for free. Uh, buy three, get
a bonus pack. And that's until the fifteenth. Go to
Zelman's Z E. L.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
M I N. S.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Zelmans dot com, slash kfi Zelmans dot.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Com, slash kfi. Okay, now we can do it. This
is handle on the law.
Welcome to handle on the law. Marginal legal advice.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Now, if you've been watching the news at all, you
know what's happened recently over the last few days.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
It's been a mess with these wildfires.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And what I want to do is concentrate a little
bit about the legal aspect that was going on.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
They're going to be a couple of them.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
One you're going to see lawsuits file the ens insurance
companies because of replacement value.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
House.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
A business is going to file a suit once it's
destroyed because the property was destroyed, and they're going to
go and see insurance company because there's going to be
an argument with the insurance company and the homeowner the
business owner. That's going to be a disagreement because that
happens all the time. The other one, which is more
complicated and more interesting, is suing the city because water
(00:51):
pressure wasn't there in many hydrants.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
And the argument's going to be.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
If there had been enough water pressure sure in the system,
then my home would have been saved, and therefore you
are responsible the city of Los Angeles. Wow, believe me,
that's going to be litigated. Now, are there some offenses?
I think there are big defenses because every water system,
(01:19):
of firefighting water systems, those hydrants was never designed and
the whole water, the entire water firefighting system in a city,
never designed for anything like this anything, And so the
argument's going to be, we don't anticipate a conflagration like this,
which went way beyond our wildest dreams. What are firefighting
(01:45):
water system hydrants, reservoirs, et cetera. Are meant to fight
our individual fires or a small group of fires for
a limited amount of time.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
The big fires went on for days, over.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Hundreds of acres, thousands of acres, tens of thousands of acres.
The system was never designed for that, ever, And the
argument is going to be, well.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
You should have thought of it.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
For example, here we are in California, and the building
code basically built on a system where you build that
would resist seven point one seven point two.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
What if you get a ten point zero earthquake where there.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Was a building standing, you should have known. Wait a second,
we never anticipated this, No excuse. You should have known.
There should be a system in place that can deal
with something like this. And it doesn't matter if it
costs nine billion dollars. So I think that's a solid
(02:46):
defense now Mayor Bass Karen Vass City Los Angeles cut
seventeen million dollars from the fire department last year. That's
going to be an interesting conversation, and that's politically speaking.
Will that mean that the city is going to be
liable on that one? Probably not, I don't think so.
(03:06):
She had originally asked for twenty three million dollar cut
to the fire department, and the city council allowed up
to seventeen or I think the allowed seventeen million dollar
cut based on what she requested. There's gonna be a
lot of argument there. She was asked at various news
conferences and she just shut up.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
She was not going to respond.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
She would make no eye contact, and when she was asked,
the deflected like crazy. We believe in keeping Angelino safe.
It's our first concern is keeping our citizens safe.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
What does that mean? You cut the budget and then
deflection and no answer. But typical politician and that's what
she is, first and foremost.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Okay, let's go ahead and take some phone calls here.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Dan, Hello, Dan, welcome to handle on the law.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Bill.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
Yes, yeah, I've got a house that I rented out
and it was completely destroyed by the renters, and I
went to claim it on my insurance, and that my
insurance is telling me that since the damage was done
over time, they can't They can't just.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
Take the whole you.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
Know, I spent like seventy thousand dollars on its plates.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
They can't take the whole amount.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
They have to treat each individual damage as its own
piece of That doesn't.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
Make any sense because what happens.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Let's say they destroyed both the dishwasher, the refrigerator, and
the air conditioning at the same time. There's no way
to determine when the damage occurred. So how can the
insurance company say we are going to say this because
it happened at a different time than this.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
It doesn't make a lot of sense, Dan, So I
don't get it.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
The insurance company is making a determination as to when
the damage occurred.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
How do they know. Well, yeah, that's good.
Speaker 7 (05:09):
That's a good point.
Speaker 8 (05:10):
So you argue with because they just flat out denied
my claim.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
On Monday, So okay, what a shocker. They flat out
denied your claim. I've never heard of an insurance company
deny or claim seventy eighty thousand dollars worth a damage.
That's when you get a lawyer, my friend.
Speaker 7 (05:24):
Yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Or you get a public adjuster.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I'm talking a lot about public adjuster these days because
of the wildfire and the insurance companies dealing with you know,
tens of thousands of properties that are all involved with insurance.
So you'll hear me talk a lot about that because
everybody is going to need help on that. Everybody.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
This isn't a claim like you have.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
You have an individual claim where I say, Okay, get
a lawyer, do whatever. You have seventy thousand dollars with
the damage and you're gonna have to arbitrate it because
that's your Insuranran's uh, that's your policy, that's your contract.
But yeah, I mean their argument doesn't make any.
Speaker 9 (06:06):
Sense, Okay unless the policy.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Says, unless the policy outright says, uh, if there are
multiple issues of damage, we will separate them out and
give a timeline.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
And I don't think. I don't think that's the case.
I really don't.
Speaker 9 (06:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Uh, Jake, Hi, Jake, welcome. Yeah, thank you for taking Michael.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Okay, what can I do for you?
Speaker 5 (06:37):
I'm involved in a personal injury matter. Yeah, and it's
been a little while.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, how's long. What is a little while?
Speaker 5 (06:47):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Well, maybe my definition of a little while is different
than yours. You're pretty slow, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Okay? What is what's a little while?
Speaker 5 (06:57):
Low energy? This morning?
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah? I can hear that. Okay, what's a little while?
Speaker 5 (07:03):
It's been about seven months?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Okay? And what happened in those seven months?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
That thing?
Speaker 5 (07:09):
I need the money?
Speaker 9 (07:10):
Now?
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Can I ask them?
Speaker 1 (07:12):
No, no, you can't.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
But what do you mean nothing happened? Did you make
a claim? Did you file a lawsuit?
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Did you make a demand? Do you have a lawyer?
There's a few questions there.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Yeah, the lawyer.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
I hired a person, okay. And what does the lawyer say?
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I don't know.
Speaker 10 (07:29):
She had me go to her house, I mean her office,
and I signed all these forms okay.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And she hasn't talked to you in seven months. She
hasn't talked to you in seven months, right, Jake?
Speaker 8 (07:41):
Some some Hispanic lady with an accent.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Oh yeah, those accents really drive me nuts.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
You know that. I can't understand any of them either, Jake.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Those damn furners coming into this country, man, we don't
want those.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
Where's the money? Can I tell her to settle?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Are sure you can tell her to settle ten cents
on the dollar if you want, sure, you can tell
her and say, hey, I want money, now settle for
whatever I can get.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
Should I just keep waiting this?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yes, find out what's going on? Wow, Southern California people
with accents never heard that?
Speaker 5 (08:22):
You know?
Speaker 1 (08:22):
How many way if we have a hundred languages.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
That are spoken here in Southern California, God, I love it. Yeah,
you think he has a flag, a Confederate flag in
front of his house.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
I'm going to make a suggestion.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
If you live in chronic pain or know someone that does,
and that is the Pain Game Podcast, It's going to
help you because all the guests have dealt with or
have treated people.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Who live in pain all of the time.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
And the host, Lindsay Soprano, I've known for years she
lives with pain, and boy does she understand it's and
does she help? And every episode ends with a message
of hope. And that's pretty important. So you don't walk
away depressed. Listen to the show wherever you listen to podcasts.
It's about chronic pain, which so many people suffer from.
The Pain Game Podcast, The Pain Game Podcast.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Hi, Lisa, Welcome to the show Hi.
Speaker 7 (09:16):
I was calling because I live in a new billed
town home community mall eighty eight units. We are becoming
to the point that it will be turned over to
the owners. That means, well, the builder is going to
step away and the management of the community is going
(09:39):
to be handed over to the owners.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Well, yeah, that's always the case because you have an HOA.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Once a certain number, once a certain number of units
are sold, the owner of the property is the HOA.
And then once critical mass there's enough people to form
an HOA, it's turned over to the owner of the property.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Now they run the HOA. That's the way it works.
Speaker 7 (10:03):
That's where we are.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Okay, what's your question? What's your question?
Speaker 7 (10:06):
There's a line of there's a line of trees that
are half dead and ready to fall on the west
side of our community. And the builder is saying he's
going to be doing landscaping. But I'm afraid he's well
we are all right, he's just going to walk away.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Okay, So what's your question, Lisa.
Speaker 7 (10:27):
Who's responsible for he is on a house?
Speaker 9 (10:31):
He is.
Speaker 7 (10:33):
Even after we take over.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
That's it, particularly after you take over, because now you
have one entity that sues on behalf of all of
you if it's a common area, and that's exactly what
you want. You don't want any individual suing. You want
all of you swing, and that's what the HOA does.
So you actually, it's happening exactly the way it should
(10:57):
be happening.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Mary, Hello, Mary.
Speaker 11 (11:03):
Hi Bill, I'm right here.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Oh here you go. All right.
Speaker 11 (11:10):
I've got a bill from my attorney. She's been working.
I've had her for about a year and a half.
A year and a half and working on a trust matter.
We're trying to get rid of the trustee who's my
brother and who's kind of fishy, and it's myself and
(11:36):
my nieces and nephews and sons. So there's a number
of us, but I have her, and then we have
another attorney for all the kids, so we have two
attorneys working. There has gone in litigation, it's gone to court.
It keeps going and going and going, and just recently
I got to build it just about maybe poop my pants.
(11:58):
It was her twenty thousand dollars. Okay, And I'm what's
your question. You know, I'm having a hard time wrapping
my head around that.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Par Thank you. Oh no, no, no, welcome to the world
of the law.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Let me tell you why. There is a course in
law school.
Speaker 9 (12:16):
Course.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
There's an actual course that teaches you how many zeros you.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Put on a bill?
Speaker 9 (12:24):
Oh brother, okay.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Lawyers charge anywhere from these days four hundred dollars an
hour up to one thousand dollars an hour, and depending
on how careful a lawyer is.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
I mean, this sounds like a pretty complex case.
Speaker 9 (12:42):
How big is.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
The amount of money that you're talking about in this trust?
Speaker 11 (12:46):
Well, it's property, which isn't of several million.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Okay, so you're talking about a big case.
Speaker 11 (12:53):
You have a I'm not I'm not you know that,
a millionaire.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yeah, I understand.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
But you're going to be if you're recipient, if you're
a beneficiary of a site.
Speaker 11 (13:05):
I'm sorry, I said, by the time this is finish,
I'll probably be dead.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Well the other beneficiary certainly hope so, because they're going
to get your share.
Speaker 7 (13:17):
Okay, yeah, twenty thousand dollars bill.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
You have to simply look at it very carefully.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Maybe talk to someone who understands the understands how extensive
the lawyer's work was. I clearly understand you know what
lawyers what reasonable, but I don't care. I don't care
enough to even touch your case, so I'm not interested.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
But but you may.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Actually want to hire a lawyer for four or five
hundred bucks to simply say, hey, is this reasonable and
to read the bill because it is hourly I'm assuming,
and look at it and go, yeah, that's reasonable. Yeah,
that's reasonable. I mean I had a case recently which
I I I had to hire a lawyer. I cannot
believe the hours. Wait a minute, this doesn't make any sense.
(14:06):
And it did, it did, and I paid a big money.
You know, lawyers don't get any breaks. Now, we all
pay for lawyers. Yeah, I still find at all. All right,
let me tell you a little bit about data breaches.
We all pay for that too. There was in the
last couple of months data breach if two point seven
billion records that were stolen by cyber hackers from a
(14:30):
company called National Public Data. And this company provides background
checks to employers and other entities. You probably don't even
know it exists. So many records are stolen online. We
are so vulnerable how our online identity is, and we
have zero control over how identity is protected by third
party companies like this company.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
National public data.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
So understanding how cybercrime and identity theft are affecting our lives,
let me suggest you contact Let me suggest you protect
yourself with LifeLock. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a
second for risks your online identity. It alerts you to
potential identity threats you may not even spot. You probably
won't spot on your own. And when they do spot
(15:13):
the problem, they immediately get in touch with you and
you can deal with it early days, which is what
you want to do now.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
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Speaker 2 (15:22):
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Speaker 1 (15:26):
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Speaker 2 (15:32):
Join save up to forty percent off your first year
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code handle. Dave, You've been there for probably over an hour,
and thank you for your patients very much.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
That sound like I.
Speaker 9 (15:53):
Hey, my doctor says that. When I refer people to it,
he says, Dave, thanks for your patients.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
Oh Bill, good morning. No, no, that's that's not good. Okay,
you just went down ten points, all right. What can
I do for you?
Speaker 9 (16:04):
Dad? I had a broadband company installed a satellite dish
on my tile roof the other day was extraordinarily windy outside,
and I heard a thumbing on the roof. I went
outside and I looked and I saw it at the
base of the satellite dish was flapping against the roof.
(16:25):
I was concerned that the damage was going to be
caused by right, Okay, I able company.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
What was your question?
Speaker 9 (16:36):
My question is is the cable company responsible for any
damage to the roof.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
What was their damage to the roof done?
Speaker 9 (16:45):
I don't know yet.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, great question. Okay, thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
If my grandmother, my grandmother, had nerds, she'd be my grandfather.
But she doesn't, so she's my grandmother. It hasn't happened yet.
Thanks for the call.
Speaker 5 (16:59):
Ah.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Oh good question here, Hi Denise, welcome. Hi.
Speaker 10 (17:05):
Yes, yes, Now with these fires, all they're homes are
being burned down and such. Now when they're rebuilt, do
they reassess the property tax?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
That's a very very good question.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
So I can tell you about La County, Orange County,
southern California, but I think virtually every county is the same.
The assessor's office taxes property based on the value of
the property. A house burnt down is zero value, so
the reassessment down to zero is not a problem. The
(17:40):
point is to reassess a home, a homeowner has to
apply to the assessor's office, who normally either makes an
inspection or does some kind of comparative or the market
goes down.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
That's happened during cycles.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
When the market has decreased and the property went down
twenty percent.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Then the assessor's office will reassess.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
At this point, we're so close to the fires in
terms of timeline that everybody's still trying to figure out
what happened. But yes, your home, those homes will be
reassessed down to virtually zero, which we will probably be
no property taxes, or the property taxes on a vacant
piece of land which is virtually nothing, or the assessor's
(18:26):
office will buy a matter of policy, simply say in
this area, we're going to go down to zero and
not accept or ask for property taxes, which, by the way,
considering what the county has to do to rebuild and
the property tax is where the vast majority of the
(18:47):
county's money comes into that's a double hit. Can you
imagine We're just starting to figure all of this out,
and it is. It's catastrophic, not only in terms of
damage in people losing their homes and their businesses, which
is well so in reference.
Speaker 10 (19:04):
To that when they are rebuilt, then they will be reassessed.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Yes, they will be reassessed probably yes, to the value
of the home at that time.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
Yep, that's exactly what that's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Until then, I can't imagine the county assessor's office would not.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Would ever charge the same amount of money for taxes.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It's just a question of how long it takes because
it is a bureaucratic process.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
Dave, Hello, Dave, welcome.
Speaker 5 (19:35):
Got a lot of.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
Questions on fires.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Well, obviously a lot of it because of what happened
in southern California.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Yeah, Dave, go.
Speaker 9 (19:42):
Ahead, good morning.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
Hey, I got a reasonable course here. There's still courage
fifty or sixty dollars of fire wellness is there and
all I don't have that kind of pockets. So what
is the repercussions for people that might have Yeah, that's
a problem.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Well, at the bottom line, if the insurance company doesn't
have money.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
Now where do you go?
Speaker 2 (20:08):
Now, probably you go to the state a lot of
I was talking to public adjuster yesterday as a matter
of fact, because I asked I'm asking the question because
these guys know how insurance works, and they represent homeowners
and business owners when making claims.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
And he was saying that a good portion.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Of the property that was destroyed was on the California
Fair Plan. And that's when your property can't be insured.
Insurance companies don't ensure a lot of property. They just
say no, thank you. Plenty of areas where you just
can't buy insurance or it is so exorbitant that well,
people buy into the California Fair Plan, which is a
(20:47):
state plan that is only fire insurance.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
No liability, not flood damage, not FAFT, nothing except fire
insurance as far as the insurance company is concerned. But
the point is, and you have a very good point,
what happens when you have an insurance company and the
entire area is wiped out and they're looking at let's
(21:15):
say eight ten billion dollars in losses and don't have
anywhere near the kind of reserves. And the answer is
I don't know. It's a good question. The answer is
I don't know. I can't imagine the state or the
FEDS wouldn't be involved. Can't imagine it either in pain
for it or certainly zero cost loans at really reduced
(21:39):
interest rates.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
All of it is horrible, horrible. It's a good question,
that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Oh, here's another one. Oh, this is a generic question
that's worth answering. Morris, Hello, Morris, welcome.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Yes, good morning. I was with all the electricity of
my house or three days and I have a lot
of spoilage my refrigerator. Can I apply for a claim
with DWP for a reimbursement or won't?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah? Well, what do they do wrong? Morris?
Speaker 3 (22:12):
They didn't do anything wrong? Right, they charge right?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
And are they going to charge you for electricity during
those days?
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Probably not.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
But in many cases, not only the fires, but the
potential for fires when you have huge wins, they shut
down electricity in certain areas, And the answer is no,
you can't. Now are there times when you can sure
when there's a power surge, for example, and your your
computers go out, you can make a claim if they
(22:42):
blow up a certain hall, if appliances blow up, but
your refrigerator only if they are at fault and do something.
There's nothing they did wrong. The power companies, man, they
were in the same position all of us were. This
is not maybe this is not a power line going
down into vegetationation where now the I think even the
(23:03):
law where the power polls have to be cleared of
vegetation for X number of feet or yards u PG
and E. Because they were they were credited, if you will,
for starting the fires up north.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Uh, they were hit.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
They they were convicted of a crime the company and
were hit with billions of dollars of fines.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
So you've got some rotten food and the freezer. I
hope you ate it.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
All right, thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Yeah, you know, these are actually most of the questions
that I get during the show, ifiva, if you have
listened to this show for any length of time, And
by the way, this is not to offend callers.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Actually it is to offend callers. That's the whole point.
I get a whole lot of moronic questions.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
A matter of fact, those are the fine questions that
I get, you know, morons calling. But uh, these questions
regarding the fires, every one of them were good questions today,
and it's important stuff because here in southern California, I mean,
it is astounding. My children, for example, had to evacuate
(24:11):
and I was on the phone and it was.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It was pretty bad.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
It was very dear friends, you hear me do Zelman's commercials.
For example, the owners of Zelman's, who are dear friends
and have been for thirty years.
Speaker 1 (24:26):
They were in an area that.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Was completely consumed by fire and they were one of
a small group of homeowners that were not affected, thank goodness.
But looking around the neighborhood and it's just all horrible.
So I have to congratulate those of you who have
asked very good questions. I'm now I'm waiting for some moronic.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Questions because that's what makes the show.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
So please, I'm making a call, right, I have never
done this before. I am asking for you idiots to
call and ask idiotic questions because it is time. Hello, Nicole, welcome.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
What can I do for you? Oh?
Speaker 8 (25:06):
Hi, Bill, thank you for taking the call.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Sure, I think this is more of an opinion.
Speaker 8 (25:10):
Question, but I find it odd that we've heard nothing
about Tesla's and how they might the batteries burning up
because we know, all they can't be put out by water. Yeah,
and how much that may have contributed to.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Well, it's a good question, you know.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I mean it's more of a technical question, but I'm
going to move it towards a liability issue.
Speaker 5 (25:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
First of all, that's something that I haven't heard dealt with.
As I said, the fires having happened, and no one
expected anything like this. No one has ever experienced anything
like this in an area that was so dense with
businesses and homes and I mean tens of thousands. Can
you imagine what happened. So a lot of people have
(25:56):
Tesla batteries at home. I have one of them actually
in my home, and usually if you're talking about a
Tesla battery burning up or exploding or catching on fire
for whatever reason and the home in fact goes down, yeah,
there's liability. I think that this fire was to such
(26:18):
a huge level that anything that got in the way
was gone, Tesla batteries.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Anything was gone.
Speaker 2 (26:27):
So I don't see the issue there absent what happened. Yeah,
I think Tesla would be responsible for a battery that malfunctioned,
and the fire department knows how to deal with batteries
they know that these are lithium inside or whatever the
hell they had side, and so they don't put water
on them. They come out and there they see there's
(26:48):
a battery issue. So they use some kind of foam retardant.
So I don't see that problem. But for the fact
this was so big, I think it all throws up.
Speaker 7 (26:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (26:59):
I didn't even think about Tesla batteries in the home.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
What difference, What difference would it make if a Tesla
battery started burning up when the entire house has gone up?
So yeah, it's see these We're going to really deal
with this a long time. These are the questions I'm
getting today, and they're good.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Uh, they're good.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Okay, let's go back to our normal show where I
answer regular questions on this show.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Steve, Hello, Steve, all.
Speaker 6 (27:31):
Right, good morning Bill. Yeah, the question about small claims case.
I filed a case against a local mechanic independent for
service you did on a vehicle over and above what
was written in the service contract. He subsequently has filed
for a dismissal motion to dismiss, and I believe that's
(27:52):
coming up. What I tried to google exactly what happens
at a dismissal. Hearing, the court.
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Asked the person asking for dismissal on what basis are
you dismissing the case? And the rules are that there is,
as a matter of law, no case here. You're asking
for something outside of either the jurisdiction or outside of
what the law allows you to file, and so the
(28:23):
case would be dismissed. This is a question of fact.
Are they responsible? Are they not responsible? That's not dismissable,
that's going to lose. You just show up and you
have to answer it. This was you know, I've never
seen a dismissal, so I don't know if they kicked
it up to superior court. But you're not going Is
(28:43):
it in small claims court where the emotion is being argued,
then you just just say, your honor, this is a
matter of fact and a matter of fact in terms
of we're dealing with factual issues.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Did he not do this? Did he overcharge? Did he not?
Was he negligent? Was he not?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Those are the issues. Not you filed in the wrong jurisdiction.
You filed e motion that is not allowed under the law.
You it's bullyve me.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
You're gonna win on this one. Okay.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
I wondered if if I needed to write a rebuttal
in detail outside.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
I don't know, you know what, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I don't know about that. I think if you just
show up, that should do it. And that is a
question that I would ask the clerk of the court.
That's not a legal question. It's pursuant to the rules
of the court. Do I answer or do I just
show up in court? You should get that answer. So
contact the court and ask for the small claims clerk. Okay,
that's all I can tell you.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
That's what I would do.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
See people call up thinking I know what I'm talking about,
and it's one of those the.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Basis of this show.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
If you sound like you know what you're talking about,
usually you have credibility. See that's you do that on radio,
and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
This is handle on the law.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
Oh before oh, let me do this before I get
out of here.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
I've got a spot to do.
Speaker 7 (30:15):
Let me.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I thought I didn't do that here, hold on it. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Oh,
you're right there, it is. Okay, let's start again. Before
I do This is handle on the law.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Bad breath of course, I'm talking about Zelman's that I've
talked about for months and months. Zelbans is the minty
mouth mint, and it's about your bad breath or someone
else's bad breath. And there's these little capsules that are
coated with mint that you pop two or three in
your mouth and the mint is sucked off the capsule
and then you swallow or bite into him and it
(30:49):
goes down in your gut, and that's whereby bad breath
can start does stay. And other men simply don't do that.
They don't deal with that problem at all. There's the
difference fresh clean breath for hours. That's what Zelman's does.
So until the fifteenth, which is just right around the corner,
if you buy a three pack or more, you're gonna
(31:10):
get a fourth pack for free. Uh, buy three, get
a bonus pack. And that's until the fifteenth. Go to
Zelman's Z E. L.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
M I N. S.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
Zelmans dot com, slash kfi Zelmans dot.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Com, slash kfi. Okay, now we can do it. This
is handle on the law.
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