| Q. My brother is in a wheelchair. Does his landlord have to make modifications to his apartment so that he can use his wheelchair in his apartment?
A.In housing covered by the Fair Housing Act, the landlord must allow your brother to make modifications to the property which are necessary to afford him full use of the premises. This might include such things as making the doorways wider to allow for the width of his wheelchair or even removing the bathtub to replace it with a roll-in shower. Your brother would have to pay for these modifications. When your brother moves out, if the modifications he made might interfere with the next tenant’s use of the property, he might have to make reasonable restorations to the original condition, such as replacing the bathtub. He probably wouldn’t have to make the doorways more narrow again since wider doorways would not interfere with the next tenant’s use of the apartment.
Q. My wedding photographer says I cannot post my wedding photos on the Internet, claiming he has the copyright. There was nothing in our contract on this. Who is right?
A. Unfortunately, the wedding photographer. Unless your contract says otherwise, the photographer (or his employer) owns the copyrights in the photographs. Under federal Copyright Law, assignments of copyrights must be in writing to be valid, and, in this case, it appears that your contract does not have such a clause. As a result, all that you purchased from the wedding photographer was his professional time at your wedding and the physical copies of the photographs that you selected. Scannning the photographs and displaying them on the Internet would be acts of copyright infringement (regardless of how much food and drink he enjoyed at your expense during the reception).
Q. Is there a "lemon law" for used cars?
A. No. Used vehicles are not covered under the Texas Lemon Law. However, dealers are required to display on the car’s window if it is being sold with or without a warranty. Generally, the "as is" language on the window signifies exactly what it sounds like- the buyer assumes any risk that the vehicle is defective. This means that if you buy a car "as is" and it breaks down the next day, usually the dealer has no obligation to repair it. However, a consumer may be able to use the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Under the DTPA, it is unlawful for a seller to fail to disclose known defects or fraudulently induce you into signing the contract. Therefore, if you buy a car "as is" you may be able to recover against the seller if you can show that he knew about the defects but failed to disclose it or he deceived you into signing the contract.
Q. My sister and her ex-husband went through a nasty divorce and she got custody of their two children. She wants to move from this small town but her ex says she cannot take the children away from here. Who is right?
A. Relocation is one the hottest issues in family law today. The public policy in Texas is that both parents should have frequent and continuing contact with their children. The Family Code allows the court to impose a geographic restriction on the party who is designating the children’s domicile. If a restriction was imposed at the divorce, the children will likely be staying unless she can show some very good reasons why the move is in the children’s best interest. If there was no restriction in the decree, he will have the burden of proof in the modification to show a change in circumstances and that it would be in the kid’s best interest to impose a domicile restriction.
Q. I was involved in a car accident. The police came, but did not issue a ticket. The other driver still maintains it was my fault and is suing me. Can he do this?
A. Yes, he can "do this." If you have received suit papers, a demand letter, or otherwise expect a claim, you must immediately put your insurer on notice of this accident and the threatened litigation. Call your insurance agent to explain the situation and deliver any pleadings or demand letter to the agent. Be sure to document the fact that you have provided such notice. If you have been sued, your insurer is obligated to defend you and will provide an attorney. If you think that the case is serious enough to lead to a judgment in excess of your policy limits, you should consult your own lawyer for advice. Although excess verdict exposure rarely occurs, it can be devastating to an otherwise properly insured driver. If you have no insurance and/or no lawyer, call your local bar association or the State Bar Lawyer Referral Service to find an experienced lawyer.
Q. Do I have three days to change my mind after I sign a contract to buy a car?
A. This may be the number one myth about the law. As far as the law is concerned, you do not have any time to change your mind after you sign a contract to buy a car. Once you sign, you are bound. Unless you have been misled or deceived into signing, you have no right to get out of the agreement. About the only time the law lets you "change your mind" and rescind a contract is with door-to-door sales, timeshare contracts, health club contracts, or certain contracts that put a lien on your house. Don’t sign any contract until you are sure you want to be bound.
Q. Can I pay for my niece’s college tuition, room, and board ($26,000 + $4,000 + $4,000 = $34,000) and not be taxed for making a gift?
A. Gifts of college tuition are not subject to the gift tax. However, payments for anything other than tuition are taxable gifts. Therefore, payments for your niece’s room and board will not be excluded from the gift tax. Since there payments total $8,000, they are less than the $13,000 annual gift tax exclusion. Thus, you won’t have to pay gift tax on those payments (or file a gift tax return) unless you have already used your annual exclusion on other gifts to your niece.
Q. An employee is leaving my firm. How can I make sure he won’t take any trade secrets with him?
A. The law imposes on a departing employee a continuing duty not to disclose to others or use for his own benefit or the benefit of others his former employer’s trade secrets. Unfortunately, an employer cannot make absolutely sure that a departing employee won’t take any trade secrets with him- they may exist in his mind even if he takes no documents with him. An employer can strengthen its position by entering into a confidentiality agreement with its employee and by conducting an exit interview during which the departing employee is requested to acknowledge that he will abide by his continuing duties imposed by the law (and his confidentiality agreement if there is one), and is asked to represent that he has delivered back to the company everything he possesses, whether on his personal computer or in files at his home, that belong to the company.
Q. The boy next door hit a baseball through a window in our house. His parents say it’s his responsibility to pay for it. He can only pay $1 per week. This will take years to collect. What can we do?
A. In some cases, the parents may be responsible for the child’s conduct and if you wanted to pursue the matter in small claims court, you could sue them. A better approach, however, would be to teach the kid a valuable lesson and maintain good relations with your neighbors. Try this (1) come to an agreement on the amount of your damages, presumable the cost of repairing the window; (2) have the boy work off his debt by performing household chores such as raking leaves, weeding your flower beds, picking up your papers and mail, and feeding and walking your dog when you are out of town. This is a chance for a win/win solution at minimal cost.
Q. Our town has a leash law, yet every morning a neighbor lets out her dog, who then poops on our lawn. We have asked the neighbor to come and clean up the mess, but she ignores us. What can we do to stop this?
A.
Have you every seen the movie, "Me, Myself & Irene"? Whatever you do, don’t do what Jim Carey did in that movie. Leash laws are put in place in order to restrain animals from running around for sanitation purposes or for the general safety of people. I would look up your local leash law and figure out which entity has the ability to enforce this law and if it can be enforced for the reason you stated. If so, write your neighbor a friendly reminder asking her to cease and desist the defaming of your yard. If you neighbor ignores your request, let her know that you will file a complaint with the appropriate entity. If there is no protection against this poochie poo poo problem, you may want to be creative and find out if doggie doo doo is considered litter and report a litterbug in your neighborhood.
Taken from "Party Talk- The Lawyer’s Guide to Friendly Requests for a Little Free Advice" Texas Bar Journal, Vol. 67, Number 11, December 2004
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