What Should I Do If My Neighbor’s Dog Destroys My Yard?

Destroyed flower beds. Holes in fences. Patchy grass due to urination. I have heard a lot of stories about how someone else’s dog can ruin your landscaping. It is not uncommon to have your neighbor’s dog or a someone’s dog that goes on walks in your neighborhood come onto your lawn and damage your hard work. So what do you do when a dog damages your landscaping?

What are my rights when a dog damages my landscaping? Someone coming onto your property and damaging your property can give rise to a number of different types of lawsuits depending on how things played out and out frequently it happens. The most common type of lawsuit we see for damage to your yard is either trespass or conversion.

Trespass is best thought of as someone coming onto your property and damaging (but not destroying) your property. Think if your neighbor’s dog burrowed under your fence and chipped the fence but did not damage the footing. That is a good example of trespass.

Conversion on the other hand is the more serious version. Conversion is generally thought of as if the neighbor’s dog came onto your property, grabbed a lawn ornament, and ran off and buried it in your neighbor’s yard. If the item is completely lost or destroyed, you may be better of seeking a claim for conversion.

Am I entitled to money if my neighbor’s dog damages my property? A dog owner is required in Virginia to exercise reasonable care in making sure their dog is properly supervised to manage any danger they may pose to other people. Butler v. Frieden, 208 Va. 352 (1967). The most common scenario this happens is in dog bite cases. However, an owner’s liability is not limited to just dog bites. If a dog is known to steal chickens, the owner can be liable if they allow the dog to roam around killing chickens. Similarly, if a dog is known to destroy flower beds, the owner better be keeping a close eye on that dog or they could be held responsible.

Whether the owner is going to be responsible is going to depend on the dog’s history and the actions the owner is taking to supervise the dog. If the dog has no history of damaging property, it may be more difficult to pursue a claim against the owner.

What do I do to protect my property from dogs? The best thing you can do to minimize the impact of dogs or other animals is to have a good homeowner’s or renter’s insurance. A good insurance policy will cover scenarios that aren’t covered above. Maybe the dog has no history of causing damage and the owner had no idea the damage would happen. Either way, insurance can protect from scenarios where the owner may not be responsible for what happened.

How Do I Get My Money Back For a Lemon of a Car?

Cars are getting more and more expensive. It is getting harder to afford either a new or used car. When you decide to make that purchase you want to be sure that you are not going to be getting a dud. Unfortunately, there are some shady car dealerships out there.

There have been a lot of reports of cars with manufacturer defects and hidden problems in the news recently. Things have gotten so bad that the Attorney General has a specific complaint process to investigate these kinds of allegations.

What do I do if I my new car is defective? Virginia recently made some changed to the Virginia Motor Vehicle Warranty Enforcement Act. This law gives consumers protections if they are receiving bad cars. This law is commonly referred to as the “lemon law.” The lemon law outlines a few options that you have if your car does not work. These options include:

1) Filing a formal claim through the manufacturer;

2) Reporting the claim through the Attorney General’s office;

3) Filing a lawsuit to recover the money that you lost.

4) Going through the informal dispute resolution process with the manufacturer.

Each of these options have different timelines and dangers that you need to be aware of in deciding how to proceed.

How long do I have to file a lawsuit? There is a lot of good information out there about how long you have to file a claim. The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has their own guide talking about timelines and some links to good resources. The Office of the Attorney General also has a guide outlining your rights. Generally speaking, the timeline for filing a claim under the lemon law is;

1) You have eighteen (18) months from the date the car was delivered to you for filing a lawsuit; or,

2) You have an additional twelve (12) months from the date the car was last worked on by the manufacturer if you went through their formal or informal dispute resolution process.

Either way, if you miss out on these timelines your case may be dead in the water.

How do I go through the dispute resolution process? Each car manufacturer is required to provide information about dispute resolutions in their owner’s manual for the vehicle. When you buy a new car, make sure you read through the owner’s manual for information on how to report a defective car. For a link to some of the more common owner manuals, see below. Please keep in mind these manuals may change by make and model so always read your manual rather than relying on these links.

Toyota

Ford

Chevrolet

What should I do if the manufacturer refuses to work with me? Well, you have two options. You can either file that lawsuit or you can file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General. The Office of the Attorney General recommends that you file the complaint with their office first. You can initiate the complaint process through the OAG by clicking here.

However, you need to make sure you do not miss your eighteen month deadline for filing a lawsuit. Hopefully, the OAG will help you pursue your claim. If things are moving slow, you should immediately file your lawsuit.

What about used cars? The lemon law is designed to protect consumers from purchasing new cars that are duds. It usually does not apply to used cars. There are some narrow exceptions. In order for a used car to qualify under the lemon law it must still be under the original factory warranty and the warranty must not have been in effect for more than eighteen (18) months from when the warranty was first issued.

What if I am outside the timeline for the lemon law? Even if you are beyond the eighteen (18) months or twelve (12) months window, you may still have some options. Virginia does have a consumer protection law if the dealership lied to you or mislead you. Those kinds of cases are much harder to prove and require extra evidence.

Either way, if you received a bad car make sure to contact a lawyer as soon as possible so you do not miss any deadlines.

How Do I Get My Security Deposit Back?

What Is a Security Deposit? If you are a renter or a landlord then you are already pretty familiar with the concept of a security deposit. A security deposit is an amount of money that is paid in advance to the landlord when someone is renting property. In Virginia, the amount of the security deposit can be no more than two (2) months rent in most situations involving a residential lease. These rules can be different when dealing with a commercial lease (a business tenant) or for a limited number of exempt landlords.

Why Do I Have to Pay a Security Deposit? The purpose of the security deposit is to make sure the landlord has money available if a tenant decides to damage the rental unit or stop paying rent. It is a safety net for the landlord to protect their investment. Without a security deposit, the landlord could risk losing a lot of money if the tenant damages something valuable and requires a lot of repairs.

What Happens To My Security Deposit? The landlord is supposed to put your security deposit in a bank account for safe keeping. Your landlord is not allowed to use the security deposit for any purpose other than to reimburse themselves or damage to the property during the tenancy or for unpaid rent. The landlord can take out money during the tenancy if there is damage to the property during the rental period. Alternatively, the landlord may be able to use the security deposit to reimburse themselves for unpaid rent or damage to the property at the end of the lease agreement.

Do I Have a Right To Know What My Security Deposit Is Being Used For? Absolutely. Virginia Law provides that a landlord must provide you with a notice within thirty (30) days of deducting the money during the tenancy or forty-five (45) Days after the expiration of the lease.

What Happens If My Landlord Does Not Tell Me What They Are Using My Security Deposit For? You get it all back. The entire security deposit. The landlord can still try to recover the damages through Court, but cannot use the security deposit for it.

What Can I Do About People Posting Lies About Me On Social Media?

The anonymity of the internet has made it incredibly easy to talk trash about someone. That trash talk can have serious consequences. People can lose their job or relationships as a result of a lie.

So what do you do when you are being targeted by someone on the internet?

What Are My Rights? If someone is talking trash about you online you definitely have rights. Although the Untied States takes free speech seriously, there are limits. The biggest limit on free speech is a type of lawsuit known as defamation. Defamation is generally either the intentional posting or sharing with other people of false statements about another person. If someone is defaming you online, you may have the option of filing a lawsuit to stop it. But you have to be careful and make sure its actually defamation or you open a different can of worms.

What is Defamation? As stated above, defamation is when someone intentionally shares false information about you to a third party. Defamation can be split up into libel and slander. There are many different types of defamatory statements out there. The type of statements being made usually depend on the relationship between the person making the statements and the person the statements are about.

People in a romantic relationship will sometimes spread lies about infidelity or how they are being treated in the relationship. These kinds of lies can cause people to lose friends or business opportunities.

Business partners will sometimes spread lies about the quality of your work. This might be to gain a competitive advantage and to pull some of your clients aware.

Either way, if someone is intentionally spreading lies about you then you may have a claim of defamation.

How Do I Sue For Defamation? Defamation is a civil lawsuit. It is typically initiated by filing a document known as a complaint with the court. There are different rules depending on how much damage you have suffered and where everyone lives.

The Complaint will usually detail a few things including a) the identity of the person making the false statements, b) what statements are being identified as false, and c) how those false statements have harmed you. In order to be successful in a defamation lawsuit, you need solid evidence proving who was making the lies, that they were in fact lies, and that you have financially suffered as a result. The Court can go so far as to order someone posting lies to take the defamatory statements down.

If you are the victim of defamation please reach out to our office and we would be happy to discuss your rights.

Nasty Breakup: How Do I Get My Stuff Back?

Are you going through a nasty break up and your ex is refusing to give you your stuff back? This happens more often than you think. I get a lot of calls from people who are trying to get their property back from an ex that is trying to keep all their stuff. Even if you were not married, there are ways of getting your property back and taking your ex to Court.

Make A List

The first thing you need to do is to make a list of all the property that is being kept. You will eventually need that list to prove to the court what property is being unlawfully withheld. Your list needs to be very detailed and needs to outline things like makes and models of the property that they are keeping. For example, if your ex is refusing to return your lawn mower you need to list out what kind of lawn mower it is.

Get Your Receipts

If your ex ultimately refuses to return the property, you will need to prove the “provenance” of the property. The provenance is the proof of ownership and where the property came from. Before the Court can return the property, you will have to prove that you are entitled to its return. You do not want to be in a situation where your ex claims it was their property and you have no proof.

If you purchased the property by credit card, get your credit card statements. If you paid cash, try to find your receipts. If you paid with a check, go to your bank and get the canceled checks. Either way, you are going to need proof of ownership before the Court can return anything.

Talk It Out

Before going to Court, the Judge is going to want to see that you tried to get your stuff back the easy way. You want to start by sending a certified letter to your ex explaining what property they are refusing to give back. Attach the list and the receipts to the letter and make sure you make that letter certified to prove they received it.

Go To Court

If all else fails, you will need to take this to Court. The proper way of taking this issue to Court is by filing a “Warrant in Detinue.” This is a type of lawsuit that tells the Court what property is being withheld and what the value of the property is. That is why the lists and the receipts mentioned above are very important. You need to get those items together before you file.

Once you go to Court, the Court will review your proof of ownership. If you have enough proof, the Court will either order the items to be returned or order your ex to pay you for the fair market value. You may even be entitled to legal fees depending on how things play out.