(06/15) HOTL Hour 2

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 bill handle herehopefully ruining your life. This is a
case about transgender transgender issues. Thereis a transgender woman formerly a man,
Leah Thomas. In twenty twenty two, she won in swimming the NCAA individual

(00:26):
title. So she is now goingout for the Olympics because the winner of
the NCAA swimming competition, I meanthat is world class stuff. So she
now goes out for the Olympics,and the US Olympic team or the US
Olympic Committee says, no, noway, absolutely no way. Now,

(00:51):
she tried to sue, but theCourt for Arbitration of Sport, I mean
there is a whole thing there whereit's a whole legal system going up,
and that court ruled in arbitration thatshe lacks standing for her challenge because the
rule of Swimming's world governing body doesnot allow women who are formally men or

(01:15):
men who are formally women to engagein Olympic sports, particularly swimming, And
so what is going what's happening here? Well, the policy dictates that a
male to female transgender athlete can beeligible if the transition was before the age

(01:38):
of twelve. Now there's a wholeworld to that someone trans transitioning before the
age of twelve. Man, howcontroversial is that? Huh? Or before
they reach two of the puberty Tannerstages. Have no idea what that means.
Okay, So what's going on withthis? Because you have the NCAA

(02:01):
saying yes, you have the OlympicCommittee saying no, and officials of World
Aquatics that sort of oversees amateur amateursports doesn't have jurisdiction over the NCBA,
but does have jurisdiction over the Olympics, says World Aquatic Aquatics is dedicated to

(02:21):
fostering environment that promotes fairness, respect, equal opportunities for athletes of all genders
and reaffirm this pledge that means intheir world that men or men and women
and never the twain shall meet unlessit happened before the age of twelve and

(02:46):
unless you've a transgender has reached stagetwo of the puberty Tanner stages. All
right? Is that legal? Damnstraight, that's jurisdictional can do that?
And she going to if she isgoing to sue, I don't know where
she's going because the Court of Arbitrationfor Sport. The panel found she was

(03:08):
not eligible for the time being,and she is only eligible for events that
do not qualify as elite events,and I guess the NCAA tournament doesn't qualify.
So you know, I don't knowwhere she's gonna go with this one.
Leah Thomas don't know what her namewas before she became Leah. I

(03:31):
do know her middle name, andI know she's going for this she wants
to be called Leah Sfonselas Thomas becauseof course there is no schonse there,
no matter what you say. Allright, let's go ahead and take some
phone calls. Okay, Steve,you've been waiting there for a while.
Welcome to handle on the law.Yeah. Thanks. I got served with

(03:54):
a lawsuit. But it's not me. And it says my name Trout and
my name as trustee and two othernames as trustees who I do not know.
I've never heard of them, andI've never heard of the attorney who
set up this trust many years ago. Okay, what let me ask you?
Are you being sued individually as wellas a trustee? Well, I'm

(04:17):
not really sure. It just says, like I said, the name of
the trust is my name and youwait, wait the name of the it
is the Steve Trust. Is thatcorrect? Yes? Correct? Okay,
that's an easy one. All right. Have you contacted the law firm that's
suing you. No, I haven't. I did call the Orange County Bar

(04:38):
and they gave me an attorney andI talked to attorney. Yeah. No,
you don't need an attorney. That'scrap. I mean you can get
an attorney. What did the attorneysay that you talked to He said,
send him an email. He said, you have the wrong my name.
I'm not affiliated with this trust.I will not be responding to this document
or any other correspondence in the future. Yeah, okay, exactly what you

(05:00):
say. But did the lawyer dothis for free? Oh yeah, it
was like I had, you know, called Orange County Bar. Good for
you. Yeah, that's it.You're done. You know, if they
go forward with this, if theygo forward with naming you continuing after they've
been told you have you have nothingto do with the trust, and they

(05:21):
won't remove your name, which sometimeshappens, then you have to make a
motion to have your name withdrawn.And the next letter goes I'm going to
make a motion, and you'll gettagged with not only attorney's fees, you're
also going to get tagged with withsanctions. So you've got what you want

(05:42):
them to do is continue on harassingyou. You want them to go forward
because you're gonna get some money outof this and you're not gonna have any
liability. And that that letter isexactly the letter I would have asked you
to send. But from if itcomes from a lawyer, that's even better.
I mean, that's phenomenal. Calwelcome to handle on the law good

(06:05):
money. I have a quick question. We're going to a lawsuit with our
landlord and the lawyer is getting thirtyeight percent and we're getting sixty two percent.
My question is do I have topay taxes on the lawyers thirty eight
percent as well? No, becauseyou're not getting the thirty eight percent,

(06:26):
you're only getting the sixty two.But on the other hand, I don't
even know why you would pay taxesbecause that's not income. You're winning damages,
that's not ordinary income. So Ithink you're okay either way. I
wouldn't worry about it. Talk toyour tax guy. I'm not a tax
guy, but I do know thatwinning a lawsuit if you've been damaged,

(06:50):
that is not income. Ted.Hello, Ted, a friend of mine
had a couple of years ago.Since then, he's physically declined that he's
on a walker right now. Buthe's his last doctor's visit. The doctor
told him not to drive anymore.I don't think he notified the DMB,

(07:14):
but doesn't have to. I thinkdoctor is the one that notifies the DMV.
No, that's what I meant.I don't think the doctor okay or
notified the DMB. So since thenhe's still driving and a couple of Occadians
I've driven him to events where he'sdriven once he's gotten to the event.
My question is if he gets inan accident, how far does the liability

(07:39):
go? You know, I wouldguess that the liability stops with him.
But if someone is really hurt,guarantee the family members will be hurt,
will be sued. Now, whetherthey prevail or not. As a different
story, I think it's incumbent forthe family member to call the doctor and

(08:03):
say this guy can't drive anymore.You have to notify the DMV. Now,
the doctor has every right to sayno. I think he's capable of
driving. I don't think he's reacheda level where he can't drive. Then
then the issue becomes, are youliable when he has a legal license to
drive? And does that mean youare making a medical determination that he can't

(08:28):
drive. I think the doctor itdoesn't matter. I don't care. He'll
say it never happened. The doctorsaid, I told him, and the
doctor has to notify the DMV.Okay, yeah, so but don't let
him drive. Take away the keys. Well that's what I've told the family.

(08:50):
But yeah, just take away thekeys. And you know, here's
what you say. Not only isit not only is he a danger to
people? So you're doing not onlyhim a favor, you're doing someone.
He could kill. My dad.I'm gonna give you his story. And
my dad reached the point in hislife where he just he thought he was
paying playing bumper cars with his driving. I mean he was hitting stuff,

(09:13):
sideswiping people, and the doctor andhe had not gone to the doctor where
a doctor would have said you can'tdrive it anymore. It just wasn't that
kind of a diagnosis. And Isaid to him, I go, you
can't drive anymore. I don't wantto lose my independence. I said,
Dad, look at this, lookat it this way. Okay, you
run into things and you're gonna hurtsomebody, and you're gonna wake up in

(09:39):
the morning look at yourself in themirror and have to look at the guy
that killed some kid in a crosswalk? Are you prepared to do that?
And he said no, he wasn't. So that worked for me. You
may try something like that, butno. Is the family liable? No?

(10:00):
Probably not. Are they going togo after the family if someone is
grievously hurt, Oh, you betgo after everybody. Judy your turn.
I'd be okay. My son recentlyhad adult son, very adult. I
would think so, because you areare you this side of one hundred or
on the other side? I'm undera little by how much I'm seventy seven?

(10:26):
Wow? Wow? Anybody ever tellyou you sound just a lot older
than that. Have you heard that? No? Actually, okay, maybe
they're afraid. It's they're probably yeah. Maybe he know, what's the point.
Maybe they were a sage to saythat. Maybe you're just the one
you know hard hard lady. Youknow. Okay? The camp I list

(10:48):
to camp I all day. Ilove this station. Well, thank you,
I appreciate it. So back backto the point here, Yes,
ma'am, he had recently had togo on temporary disability because the back issues
his O thanks are dissolving. SoI I volunteered to help them with their
second on the house. And soI found out when they brought me the

(11:09):
bill over to look at it,which I go over all my bills.
But anyhow, obviously they didn't.Out of the six hundred dollars I sent
the company, five hundred and sixtyone went to interest because they had a
very variable loan from Wells Fargo thatis nine point five all right, So
what's your question, diddy, Well, what do they need advice on what

(11:33):
to do with this? And Idon't know where you pay for something like
did you go? Do you payit all? You can do it nine
point five? Yeah, they cancharge fifteen point eight. There's no limit
to what they can charge. InterestWise, there used to be userble lo
there was there used to be,but those let me tell you, the
major banks and lending institutions got ridof those. So unless you have someone

(11:56):
very biblical up in the far reachesof Wells Fargo or Bank of America,
or whatever lending institution that doesn't wantto charge usury because uh, you know
the Bible says don't charge usury.Uh, they can charge whatever the hell
they want. Oh my god.And it's your son. And it's your
son that entered into that deal ona variable loan, on a second and

(12:20):
the money is owed. Now,the good news is you're not going to
get sued. He's going to getsued. So if the house is if
the house is going to be foreclosedon, it's going to be on your
son, not your not you.Yeah, no, no, no,
I know. I just thought,well, I just have to help them.

(12:41):
I guess keep helping. You haveno choice, You've got no choice.
Happens, Yeah, it does?You know, is it? Do
I have to pay it? Yeah? Of course you have to pay it.
Of course you have to pay it. All right. Let me talk
about cyber theft. That's a problemtoo, big time problem. It happens

(13:03):
in the dark, someone uses yourname information online. You don't know what's
happening. You find out when thecredit bill shows up with all kinds of
bogus charges. And cybercrime and identitytheft affect our daily lives. I mean,
we have to protect ourselves against thesecrimes because the odds are you or
a direct family member will be avictim. By the way, I am

(13:24):
always a victim of the attempt thatsomeone uses my name or my credit and
protecting your identity online, this iswhat I do is very easy with LifeLock.
They have a twenty four to sevenonline system that monitors billions of transactions
online looking for evidence that your informationis being used illegally because they know exactly

(13:46):
what's going on with you, andthen they notify you, and then you
determine if that's the problem and it'shappened to me, I'll go Yep,
that's the problem or usually nope,that was what I bought. And if
you have a problem, LifeLock helpsyou by assigning a dedicated US based restoration
specialist to help you out. Joinnow twenty five percent off your first year.

(14:09):
Go to LifeLock dot com. Usemy last name handle H A N
D E. L. Just don'tbuy anything with my name twenty five percent
off using my promo code, myname handle LifeLock dot com, LifeLock dot
com Debbie Hi, Debbie Hi BillYep. My son was fifty one.

(14:33):
He passed away in November. Ohmy god. Yeah, yeah, that's
way way too What did he dieof, Debbie? What do he have?
We he was living in a cleansoilver house. He struggled after a
twenty year toxic relationship that ended intwenty twenty and for the last four years,
three and a half years, he'stried really hard. He was living

(14:54):
in a sober house and that's wherethey found him. He went to sleep
and never woke up. Okay,was it was it fentanyl? Was it
drugs or was it just a naturalcauses? Just he disabused his body.
Just forget that alcohol mostly. Thatis so heartbreaking. Okay. Yeah.
So he had no kids, hehad never been married. He was in

(15:18):
an apartment, and he left acable bill six hundred and fifteen dollars.
But when his dad got him outof the house, that apartment and into
this clean sober house, we didn'tknow. He didn't know because his dad's
separate from me, that we hadthis cable bill. The only reason that

(15:39):
his dad had to file this smallestate affidavit is because he was working and
he had a paycheck. Okay,so all of it, So all that's
on here is the cable bill wasn'ton here at the time. We heard
from these folks after the fact.Are we required to be No? No,
you just knowly not. You justlet the cable people know that,

(16:03):
Hey, this the customer is deceasedand there's no trust, there's no will,
there's no estate, and they'll leaveyou alone. Now they may try
a couple of well it's in acollection with an it doesn't matter. They're
not going after They're not going afteryou. Nope, they're not. Then

(16:23):
they're just let them go forward.You know, here's what ends up happening.
So here's your eight hundred dollars bill, and I'm just going to give
you some inside baseball as to howcollections work. So here is an eight
hundred dollars bill that's clearly not beingpaid. So the utility in this case,
or the phone company or anybody thatis owed money, turns it over

(16:45):
to a collection firm that picks upfifty percent if they can collect because because
the people that are owe the moneyfigure better half than nothing, all right,
So nothing happens with that collection firm. They then sell that bill to
another collection firm and so done viaportfolio. They do this with thousands of

(17:07):
bills, they put them together andthey sell They give them to another firm
that will collect twenty cents on thedollar. That doesn't work. Then it
goes down the line, and finallyit goes to people that if you can
collect five cents on the dollar,three cents on the dollar, it's better
than nothing. And years later,hoping that they'll get some money, these

(17:33):
collection firms say, hey, justpay five dollars, show good faith and
just lie about. You know thatyou owe the money. You may get
a call two years from now,Debbie saying, hey, you owe the
money, Debbie. But I'll tellyou what right now, the bills one
thousand dollars. If you pay onehundred dollars, we'll cut a deal right
now that you're done. And allyou need is a couple of those.

(17:56):
And this firm is making money becausethey got it for pennies on the dollar.
That's how it works. You haveno problem whatsoever. Okay. Once
his dad got him out of thisapartment, there were other kids that were
staying there that actually ran the billup. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter, Debbie. That bill couldbe one hundred thousand dollars, all right,

(18:22):
don't sweat it. If it's onehundred thousand dollars, they're going to
be a little bit more aggressive aboutcollecting, not eight hundred dollars. Andrew
Hi, Andrew Hi. Bill.So, I was excused of a hit
and run on my way into workone day, and I have I don't
think I hit them. I hadno idea. My insurance company called me,

(18:45):
asked me about the accident, andlike, what accidents? All right?
Any damage to your car? Well, it's a twenty year old truck,
and I do have slight damage wherethey say it happened, but that's
been there for years. All right. Well, you've got an interesting situation
going and that is well it's hereis the question, you were at that

(19:12):
you were there geographically? Why didthey tag you? Andrew? That's the
question, and you really have noanswer for that. So what they're saying
is you were there unless you canprove you weren't there. I was at
work, No, I was there, Okay, So you were there,
So that's what they So the questionis, why why do they tag you

(19:38):
and not the other guy? Theydidn't hit. They they're just making it
up, right, So, Andrew, they just made it up. However,
I was there, I do havedamage on my car, which by
the way, is twenty years old. Okay, let's prove that one.
And the insurance company is calling youand saying what happened? You got don't
remember? All right, that's fair. You're not defrauding anybody. Let me

(19:59):
tell you what's go to happen.Uh. The insurance company is probably going
to settle with the guys that sayyou damage the car. I'm assuming they're
not claiming any injury, right theyare not they okay, which is right,
that's fine, and you just it'sfine and you just deny it.
And your insurance company is going tosay they're going to pay because they're not
going to go to court, andso they're gonna settle with the guy and

(20:22):
you're going to be tagged on yourinsurance record as a non injury at fault
accident. That's it. Not muchI can do about it, and it's
the insurance company is taking over.You're not going to pay anything. Yeah,
I realized that, Like, Ijust don't want anything on my way.
I understand, I understand, butit's going to happen. What do

(20:44):
you? Let me ask you this. The insurance company settles okay, or
says they'll give him with the otherguy, I'll give you two thousand dollars
go away, and you say no, I'm not going to do it.
I will not settle. I'm goingto trial. And the insurance company says,
read the insurance policy. We cansettle. You give us the right

(21:04):
to settle, and you say no, no, I'm going to get a
lawyer. I'm going to sue youbecause you won't settle. Now what you're
gonna do? No right, whatI want. You're not exactly so you
know it's just bad luck. Joe, Hello Joe, Hello Bill. Yes,

(21:30):
we have a corporation that we formeda couple of years back. Three
different locations under one corporation, andbusiness went under. We signed a personal
guarantee for some products that go withthe businesses, and now they're trying to
come after us for the personal guarantee, which is about seventy thousand dollars.
We're just wondering how far they canactually go. They can go all the

(21:53):
way. You you signed a documentsaying I will pay if this if that
bill is not paid by the corporation, I will pay. That's why they
call it personal you individually, andthey call it a guarantee, which if
I look up the word guarantee,that means it's a guarantee. Joe,

(22:15):
why would you think you wouldn't paythis bill? Well, we planned on
paying the bill, but just thecompany went so bad underwa I understand.
No, No, I understand,I'm not I'm not. You know,
I'm not accusing you of trying tosee them over. I get it you
did. This is a good faithbut they have every right to sue it.
Now, Yeah, they have everyright to sue you, and you
owe them money. It's not complicated. Deborah, Hello, Deborah, welcome,

(22:41):
Hello, Yes, go ahead,Deborah. Okay. Question should I
have contacted my employer to file workerscomp? Or? I don't know what
happened to you? Ho still workenvironment and stress? That's not a worker's

(23:03):
comp case, that is, Imean it can be, but uh,
it's a that's an employment discrimination attorney. Hostile work environment is definitely discrimination,
and that's that's in a different category. Now, Yeah, do you have
an attorney, a discrimination law attorney? I did you? What happened?

(23:23):
One? And I went to them? What happened? They didn't want it?
No, they took the case.Okay, what happened so far?
Workers compounds denied? Okay, becauseit's a different Okay, So you call
your attorney or you call a worker'scomp attorney, because it's a different kind
of attorney. One's a worker's compcase. One is a violation of federal

(23:49):
law, you know, and statelaw. You can't discriminate, you can't
put in a hostile work environment.And so you got two different lawyers.
So find yourself a worker's attorney andsee if you can go in that direction,
and you keep your other lawyer goingon the discrimination case. How far
is that along? By the way, Deva, I just got denied.

(24:10):
It's only been ninety days. Yeah, I mean I'm not your the worker's
comp I get that. Did youdid you have a work comp attorney file
for you? They they filed forme before I contacted my employer. Yeah,
you don't have to contact I don'tknow, you know if you have
to or not contact your employer.Were you fired? Did you quit?

(24:30):
No? No, I went onmedical leave. Okay, So where's the
hostile work environment? There? Beingbullied, harassed and I physically got sick
because of Okay, And did youcomplain ever about that for five years?
Ah? Okay, So now itlooks like you have a case. So

(24:52):
you file for workers comp and thatwas denied. Correct, Yes, okay,
you can appeal that. You canappeal that. You have two different
cases, Deborah. Okay, youappeal the workers comp case with the workers
comp attorney because that happens all thetime, and you move forward on the
discrimination case. Hostile work environment?Why did you put up with it for

(25:15):
five years? Deborah? Military?It is against the military, the hostile
work environment. It's a company thatis contracted through the military. I understand,
But why did you put up withit? You were working for the
company. Why did you put upwith it for five years? I like

(25:37):
what I do? I like Andby the way, I'm asking you that
because that's going to be a hellof a defense on their part. So
I'm just throwing it out at you. I don't know the merits of the
case. I do not know,but you know, I mean, you
know, five years Okay, Hello, Spencer, welcome, Thank you.

(26:02):
I'm in a parking lot, andthe parking lot is entirely owned by a
private enterprise, and this private enterpriseputs up signs instructing me do not enter,
do not exit, right turn only, that sort of thing. If
I violate one of those instructions ina private parking lot signs put up by

(26:23):
the operator of the parking lot,can law enforcement cite me for pilate?
Pretty much? Yeah, I meanit's tough for them to do that.
But you know where a lot whereyou get nailed is no parking. You
know, owners will be towed awayat your expense, certainly handicapped carpie parking

(26:45):
in a private lot, the policewill tag you on that one. As
far as right turn only signs andon a private property, yeah, I
mean you're talking about in the lotitself where you're violating that that particular sign.
Correct, that's the essence of it. It's not going out on the

(27:06):
street. It's going in an alley. Uh. And the alley is private
property or is it a city alley? I have no idea I would have
seen. Okay, I will tellyou that if it says right turn only
and to a public thoroughfare, yeah, that can be enforced. Now,

(27:27):
if you go against say you're ina let's say you're in a supermarket and
you're pulling into a parking area,the wrong way right, and there's an
arrow that only goes one way.Now, they're not going to tag you.
Maybe, no, you're you'll betyou'll be okay, So I wouldn't

(27:47):
worry about it. But you know, the right turn only. Here's what
you want to do is uh,when you're coming out of a parking lot
and you see a sign that saysright turn only and you need a left
turn, you make a left turnand you get t boned. You call
me and you asked me, what'sgoing to happen? All right, Chris,

(28:08):
Hello, Chris, welcome, Hey, hey, hey, I am
on a two year lease and itand there's a close on my lease that
says neither party, the renter ormy my manager can change the amount and
no added fees for anything can beedit or subtracted. Water is included in

(28:33):
for free, you know, inmy not for free, but included in
my rant. So recently he circleda uh an email that says we're in
stage one. Uh, you know, water blah blah blah. The water
company has has uh increased the basicrate, So I'm sharing water with ten

(28:55):
other cabins with cabins. Yeah,I get it. I understand, you
know, because there's different you know, I'm a single person. There might
be no I understand. No,I got it. No, I got
it. Chris, that's a reallyinteresting question. Yeah. So you have
a lease that says, hold ona minute, I get it. You

(29:15):
have to explain it. You havea lease that says you waters included in
your uh in your rent, andit says you can't, you cannot charge
more, and you now have morecharges that the landlord wants because the water
rate has gone up. But letme ask you something. It was always

(29:37):
the case that you are single andother people had family members. Always that
hasn't changed. By the way,I am nailing, not you relatives.
I'm not nailing you. I'm nailingyour landlord. If water is included in
the lease, it doesn't matter whatthe base is. They could pull and

(30:00):
he says water is included unless thereis something in the contract that says that
there is. It could be increasedif inflation goes beyond if additional search charges
or taxes go up, that isa different story. But heat, he

(30:25):
says, if I do not paythis extra thirty dollars and it's only every
other month, and that it willbe considered that I am not paying my
rent and I'm gonna get and here'swhat you're gonna do. Then that's fine
because you are paying your rent.Yes, he is saying, I want
more rent than what I than whatyou sign that what you agree to,

(30:48):
and I'm gonna sue you. No, I understand, but it's included in
the least Chris. Okay, hesays it is included in the lease.
So you say, what part ofit's included in the lease? Are we
having a hard time understanding? Whatif his property taxes go up two hundred

(31:11):
percent? Oh, you've got topay more to me because my property taxes
have gone up. His water billhas gone up, Chris, not yours?
Right, So if he tried,if he says, you, go
go ahead and sue me or filean unlawful detainer in other words, three

(31:33):
day painting, three day on,three days to pay red or quit go
to court. You're gonna score onthat one. You'll be fine. I
love it when people explain to me, I get it. I understand.
No, no, no, letme explain it to you. I get
it. No, no, letme explain it to you more. I
understand. No, no, no, no, you don't understand. And
of course I understand. I'll tellyou what else I understand. Uh when

(32:00):
people have bad breath, and Ido occasionally I just don't care. Well,
actually I do, because people reelin front of me. And that's
what's even worse is people who havebad breath breathing on you. And no
one hands anybody mints and says,hey, get a mint, do me
a favor. So what you dowith mint takes care of the stuff in
your mouth, the bad breath,but bad breath still happens because so much

(32:22):
bad breath comes from the foods thatyou eat. And this is where Zelman's
minty Mouth mints really work, becauseyou suck off the mini coating and that
takes care of the mouthpart, andthen you either swallow or you bite on
the capsule itself, tiny little capsule, and then when you swallow it,
it starts working in your gut,where a lot of bad breath comes from

(32:43):
from the foods you eat. That'sZelman's Minty Mouth Mints money back guarantee that
I've never seen anybody use multiple packsfree shipping, and you're gonna want more
than one. Go to Zelman's zel M I N S. Zellmen's dot
com. That's zelmans dot com.Use the code handle at checkout you get

(33:05):
fifteen percent off. Get the fifteenpercent off, go to zellmans dot com.
This is handle on the law