Have legal questions or need sound advice? BK’s David Betras has answers on the first Monday of every month

During the August 3 edition of Free Legal Advice Monday on WFMJ Today, BK Managing Shareholder David Betras nearly lost his voice but not his ability to dispense sage legal advice.

Let’s check out the questions Daivd raspily answered during the show.

Question 1: A woman and her husband inherited a piece of property 15 years ago along with my husband’s brother. They don’t want the property, but they want our fair share from the sale. The brother, however, is holding off because he says he might want the property at some point. In the meantime, they’re kind of stuck paying half the taxes for 15 years. Do they have any sort of legal way to force the sale of the property?

David’s response: Yes, they can by filing a lawsuit asking that the brother eithers buys them out or sells the property.

Question 2: My 24-year-old son unfortunately passed away back in January. Who is responsible then for any debt that he had at the time?

David’s response: Unless someone signed on something with him, only the son is. And if he didn’t have any money, he has bankrupt estate and his creditors are out the money.

Question 3: A viewer says  that on the morning after the Fourth of July they discovered that their neighbor’s firework debris was all over their yard, their walkway, their porch, their deck, and their brand-new roof. They took pictures and cleaned it up.

They had asked their neighbor if could move the spot from which they launched the fireworks back 150 feet but the neighbor did not.

asked if they could just

The viewer wants to know if there is anything they can do now?

David’s response: Are there regulations about setting fireworks close to aproperty line? Well, they would need to check with the township or city they live in.  But there’s nothing more they can do. But if fireworks debris sets a neighbor’s roof on fire that’s a different story. There’s a lot you can do in that situation.

But let’s face it, everyone is celebrating the Fourth so there’s lots of debris all over neighborhoods.
One thing they could do is check to see if there’s a local ordinance and have a government official send the neighbor a letter before the Fourth next year that informs them of the residence. They should also check the zoning code and make a complaint to the zoning inspector if setting off fireworks violates the code.

Question 4: This viewer say her landlord hasn’t fixed the air conditioning unit in her apartment for more than a month. She wants to know if she can withhold her rent until he fixes it and if not what can she do?

David’s response: No, she’s not allowed to

withhold her rent. The proper procedure is to put your rent into escrow via the court that has jurisdiction over the city or township in which the apartment is located. he court holds the rent until he fixes the air conditioning.

Question 5: This viewer said they put in a pool 15 years ago and were given a variance by the city to have a shorter fence surrounding the pool than is legally required. Their neighbors at the time signed off on the variance.

Now they have a neighbor who has asked fi they would consider putting in a fence at the regular height. The neighbor hasn’t tried to force them, but the viewer wants to know if they can be made to install a new, higher fence.

David’s response: Probably not. They’ve already been granted the variance—that’s locked in.  I don’t know why their new neighbors are asking them to erect a taller fence, maybe they have young kids. But because they have an established variance, they can leave the fence at its current height.

Question 6: The viewer bought house with a driveway that is partially on the neighbor’s property. The previous owners of the property gave them verbal approval for the driveway. That owner sold the property and moved. What do they do now?

David’s response: They need to get approval from the new owners but they’re in a pickle.

This is tough because they’re using a piece of property that’s not theirs. They don’t have it by adverse possession. So, technically, if the neighbors wanted to kick you off that part of the driveway, they could.

But when you sit back and think about it, if they are using part of the neighbor’s driveway and say, hey, I’m going to make this real nice, the neighbors may not complain about it. Yeah. But if it comes down to a dispute and you build a

driveway or part of your driveway or part of your fence on a neighbor’s property, that’s not allowed. Which means the people who own it can ask a court to order you to get off.

Question 7 asked by a caller: We recently had a court hearing on a judgement case. Can I call the judge and give them information that wasn’t presented during the hearing?

David’s response: Did you represent yourself or did you have a lawyer?

Caller: I had a lawyer.

David: Well, if he didn’t enter evidence during the hearing you’re out of luck. Neither he nor you can call the judge. That is called an ex parte conversation, and it is not permitted. The lawyer made the mistake, but you suffer the consequences. You should call your attorney.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of Free Legal Advice Monday. David will be back on the set of WFMJ Today on the first Monday in September. If you have a legal question, you may call 330-744-8821 during the show, email your query to wfmjtoday@wfmj.com or message WFMJ Today on Facebook.

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