Wednesday afternoons at 1:00 p.m.
When KSEV listeners need legal advice, they turn to Ed Mattingly. Ed donates his time and 30+ years of legal experience to radio show callers that need some help or just a proper perspective on their legal issues. Ed is an accomplished attorney with experience in both civil and commercial litigation and in certified as a personal injury trial specialist by Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
When you need legal help, make a call to Ed Mattingly, your personal lawyer!
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Ed,
My daughter was engaged for about 2 years. Her fiancee “backed out” of the planned wedding a month and a half before the set wedding date. It was 100% his decision. I have paid the venue over $12,000 and it was past the contract date for any refund. Would I possibly have any luck in suing the fiancee in small claims court to try and recoup some of my lost money?
Thanks,
Steve
Div 1997, helped wife at time buy house so kids close.This was during the divorse.All was divided and she got that house and I kept the other house.Mine is paid for hers is not and now she is behind,Div says I am not to be encumbered by her house note or her seperate debts.All deeds cleared so house is only in her name.Now she is behind and mortgage shows up as mine with bad payment hx.Who do I contact ,the div Judge or go to reg court or do I have a leg to stand on.In Texas it is her house and I have no claim to it
About my cousin’s Workman’s Comp case, I forgot one very important detail. The Conroe lawyer said he would have to come up with $18,000 to $20,000 (as a retainer, I guess) to a lawyer to take his case. And he does not have that kind of money after dealing with this injury and medical bills over and above his insurance for going on 7 years.
I have a cousin who works for TXDOT as a designer who was hurt on the job in 2006 and has a rather complicated case. I want to find out if this is something I could ask you about on the radio. He has RSD in his left arm which he and his doctor believe came on after his fall as a result of the fall. The State AG office is trying to say it was a ‘pre-existing’ condition because he had had some pain in that arm due to a neck problem from (I think) a car accident previously. But, I forget which, one involved C3-C4 in his neck and the other, C6-C7…one being the car accident, the other being the fall at work, I forget which is which. I tried to help him with a lawyer referral from a friend, and finally through hlrs.org he talked to a lawyer in Conroe who does Workman’s Compensation law, who told him he would never get a lawyer to take his case on contingency because under Texas State Law, there is no way for the lawyer to get paid, because last time this subject was addressed in the Texas Legislature, the ‘Republicans’ (this lawyer must be a Democrat) made it so this could not happen, so if you make over $25K a year, you cannot get representation in such cases and the employer wins by default. I don’t know about that, he is in dire straits because when he fell, when he tried to catch himself with his left arm, his shoulder twisted 180 degrees the wrong way. He’s had 9(?) surgeries with doctors approved by the employer, and still is in a lot of pain. His PCP told him about a month ago, “You will never work again”. He approached this in the beginning with the Workman’s Comp board by using their Ombudsman instead of getting an attorney, and now that, according to him, they are trying to screw him out of a lot of compensation for lost future wages due to the RSD calling it a pre-existing condition, he cannot get representation to fight their opinion, different from his doctor, in the courts. Can you give me an opinion on this? Does he have a leg (or arm) to stand on? I can give you his name & cell# if perchance you want more detail. Seems this might be too complicated for a radio show call. Thanks.
My daughter lives in Dallas and has a boy friend that has many rent houses. She has been trying to get her mother and I to move to Dallas. The boy friend is going to give us a house to get us to move. The house is worth $250,000 but not something we would like to live in. I plan to sell my home ($180,000) and the home in Dallas and buy something we like in Dallas. What will be my tax consequences? I am 69 and my wife is 65. How should i handle the title transfer? Would it be a gift?
Hi Ed,
I’ve enjoyed listening to your show a few times. I have a quick question. My oldest son, who is now 25, committed a Class B Misdemeanor when he was 20. He was not represented by a lawyer. This offense was for petty theft (less than 200.00). He was unable to get a job until a kind gentleman in the Ft. Worth area offered him a job in 2009. He will soon complete four years of employment at the same company. Can this misdemeanor be expunged from his record? He would like to get a new job. Thanks.
Ed,
I have a few questions I hope you can help me with.
1. In Texas how long does an executor have to give all money in an estate to heirs ? I have heard two years.
2. Is an executor required to give current financial updates? If so how often?
Dear Mr. Mattingly,
My sister #1 has a power of attorney over my mother (1 year ago) which was notorized. Mother lives in Harris County, TX.
Is there any further step my sister #1 needs to take to have this legallized?
Can my other sister #2 just come in behind her and have a new power of attorney done to make the one sister #1 has invalid.
And my mother is of unsound mind and takes medication for dementa now.
Thanks,
Cathy Wigley
aka Sister #3
Dear Ed,
My mother in law died 5 years ago without a will. She co-own property with her boyfriend that died before her that did not have a will. One of my husbands sister is a squatter, and has lived there since her death. The taxes has not been paid. There are 5 children and 3 grandchildren, none except my husband is willing to pay the back taxes. The City of Houston is going to foreclose soon. We want the land, can anything be done?
Ed,
I was hoping you could help with a question.I am a heir to my Uncle and Aunt’s estate along with nine other heirs mostly neices and nephews. They had no children, but my brother and me where like sons to him and he counted on us to help him work his farm. My cousin is the executor and I am the assistant.The estate is worth 1.8 million and has land in the fayette county area that is worth 1.5 million.Over a year ago she released 1.3 million of the money or 130,000 each.I have questioned her on why she is not distributing the rest and she said she has been advised to hold the rest back by her lawyer which is another 500,000 until the land sales.Is this common? The will says nothing about this.Also I have asked her twice for Financial statements on their estate since I am the assistant exec.and she never sends anything.
If she refuses to send me info on the estate what is the best way to find the information on my own?
281-381-9401 – John
Hi Mr. Mattingly,
I try to catch you on show every Wed. afternooon.
Here is my situation:
I live in an older gated community in the Champions area (FM1960). We have an HOA fee of $1620 per year. For this, we get a gated wall community of 102 houses with the usual amenities. The board has been in control for several years and they have employed a management company named Sterling.
I am a freelance graphic designer. The recession has hit me hard. Our yearly dues are due for the upcoming year on Jan. 31. Our HOA bylaws states that if you do not pay by Jan. 31, a homeowner can be assessed a 10% late fee plus 10% annum on any outstanding balance. For several years, other homeowners have paid late and they were not charged any late charges or interest, including some board members.
I sent checks in Jan. and Feb. for $135 ea. ($1620 divided by 12). In the middle of Mar, my checks were returned to me from Sterling telling me to pay up. I know for a fact that other homeowners are paying monthly and their checks were being deposited. I sent checks in Mar. and Apr. for $135 and those checks were returned in May.
Another homeowner has also tried to pay monthly and his checks have been returned.
Now they are sending me demand letters telling me to pay the as $1620 plus late charges amounting to $162.50 + $132.66 + $25 certified check charge.
I have never denied that I owe the $1620 charge but I do deny the late charge of $162.50 and interest charge of $132.66. All I get is threats of legal action and I am afraid that time is running out.
I feel that I am being discriminated against because the board and Sterling are not treating me the same as they treat other homeowners.
It is my understanding that they cannot refuse to take my checks for the fees and that their intention is to make an example of me because I have been asking for a copy of the yearly audits (they have not done once since 2007 and our bylaws states that they must do a yearly audit).
In your opinion, do I have any legal standing?
If so, can I sue in JP court or would it be district court?
Is there anywhere that I could get assistance with filing paperwork if I have a legal standing?
I am an educated person with a BA degree but no law experience.
Thanks so much for your help,
Cheryl Noel
713-782-9777
I keep getting phones calls from Credit Card Services 1-786-358-9799, they will not stop harrassing me. Who can I report them to.
Thank you
J Miller
I am a Software sales person. I sold a suite of Software to one of my customers and the customer now wants to return the software quoting a change in his companies e-business strategies and policy’s. My company has a clear no return policy yet my company made a business decision to take the product back. now I am being hit with an RMA and they are taking my commissions back. Is this even legal?
Went to one of the door outlets in town to buy all of the doors for a new home I am building. This started back in May. We were told they could meet our needs and at a discounted price. We were looking at styles & sizes before putting in our list. A number of phone calls, store visits & e-mails later we took our list. We made a selection of mahogany doors but wanted them painted white. The owner said he could not recommend painting mahogany (only because it looks so good when stained-I agree) but its wanted and he agreed to do this service & it was included in the price. The paint brand & color was my choice. It is a quality product that I’ve used successfully for years. I know that mahogany can be painted; I’ve done it. Anything can be successfully painted with the correct preparation. I have seen the stain & finish applied in this shop & it looks great. I thought if his work looked that good then we won’t have any problems.
Mid July we made a verbal agreement, I made a deposit and they got started. I went to look at the work and voiced concerns because it wasn’t quite as good as we wanted I was assured that everything would be taken care of. Next visit showed that it was not taken of; collectively it looked much worse. There were numerous problems—nail holes not filled in & sanded; nothing had been caulked; some area looked liked they had not been sanded at all; something under the paint ; orange peel in the paint. At each visit I was assured that it would be taken care of. The owner acknowledged that the work was inferior.
A final deadline was agreed to (the delays on my project are time and money). Was told they would work through Labor Day weekend to completion I arrived on Tuesday for pickup; they were still painting. So much for the deadline. Was told three more days were needed. I said you can’t fix in three days want you could do the right way in six weeks.
At this point I said I’ m done and demanded a refund of my money. He has refused numerous times. E-mails over the past month have resulted in more refusals I have been blamed for all of the problems. None of the work was done to customer satisfaction. No customer should be expected to accept a bad job. The owner wouldn’t; why should I.
There were too many shortcuts of this job. Very little if any preparation was done to assure good results I have purchased other doors to keep my project going ; I feel I had no choice. I had no control over the job once the company accepted. My complaints ended up with more broken promises. It’s even been implied that it is my fault and they are doing damage control for me I think my shortcoming in this matter is putting my faith and trust in someone to do what they said they were going to do. I stand by my decision to demand and accept a full refund. Where do I go from here? What are my options? Your help I would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!
I have worked in the Floral business since 2005. I work with the wedding part of the business. This past July I did the floral work for a customer/friend. We have know each other for several years. We met a couple times to go over all the details for her daughters wedding. I then gave her the cost with a discounted price because we were friends. She needed to make payments because she was planning this wedding within 4 months. My husband and I talked this over and decided since she was a trusted friend that we would let her have payment plan. We talked about what she was going to pay up front and then we had an agreement to pay the remaining balance every two weeks which was when her husband would get paid. We gave her a 45 day payment option to have everything else paid in full. We did everything for her daughters wedding and she paid us cash with about half of the balance. She said she would get with us every two weeks to make payments on the remaining balance. First two weeks pass and no phone call no text from her.We figured ok maybe she just needed to wait till the next pay check, so next two weeks came and nothing from her. So I called and left messages, also sent text messages, and even facebook a message to her. No response. Another two weeks goes by and throughout that time still no reply on my calls or any messages that I sent to her. Finally we decided to go make a visit to her home and she gives us all these things have happen to her mom, and she was out of town and such but that she would pay us something by the end of that week. Contacted her and of coarse no answer again. We get around labor day weekend and she answers my text and gives me some medical issues going on but that she would get out to the bank to get me payment after the holiday weekend. Heard nothing from her that week. We are over the 45 day payment agreement and no answers to any of my calls or messages.
Here is my problem I didn’t do a written contract with her because she was a good friend of mine so I trusted her to pay for the wedding I did for her at a fantastic price. There are text messages with the verbal agreement but I don’t know if I can get them from the phone company. At this point Im frustrated and I’m out of my own pocket for a wedding job that was not for myself. I’m not sure what to do or if I can even do anything to get my remaining balance paid back to me.If you can help me in knowing what my options are I would really be thankful!
As someone involved in the legal system I can say with some reasonableness that Attorney Mattingly does offer sound advice and is able to put that advice into “everyday” language. I’m not from Texas (I’m in the St. Louis area involved with a Federal Criminal Defense Attorney, so not too far away), but I’ve caught a few of his radio shows and it’s nice to listen to someone who can explain what most people think of as complex issues in a way that’s very approachable and understandable.
I have a problem with ”large lumps”, on a flooring job (about $4,000.00). Installer tried to make repair – worse than before – says “that’s just the way the slab does sometimes”. (he examined the slab prior to installation and said that it was fine). I had concerns about moisture and he said that he would apply a liquid “moisture barrier”. I paid for, and followed all of his recommendaitons.
After months of trying to contact him and figure things out, I hired a “Certified Flooring Expert” who examined, tested and evaluated the floor. The report clearly places the blame on the installer. He recommended the floor that he installed and it was the “wrong” application per the report, he used the wrong adhesive, as well as other problems. The entire floor should be removed and another type of flooring should be installed.
He is local and been in business for some time.
I have all the correspondence, invoices, and the report from the expert. Where do I go from here?
Should I mail him the report and he be given the chance to replace the floor – file in small claims – or is this amount of money worth hiring a lawyer? Thank you
I have a problem with ”large lumps”, on a flooring job (about $4,000.00). Installer tried to make repair – worse than before – says “that’s just the way the slab does sometimes”. (he examined the slab prior to installation and said that it was fine). I had concerns about moisture and he said that he would apply a liquid “moisture barrier”. I paid for, and followed all of his recommendaitons.
After months of trying to contact him and figure things out, I hired a “Certified Flooring Expert” who examined, tested and evaluated the floor. The report clearly places the blame on the installer. He recommended the floor that he installed and it was the “wrong” application per the report, he used the wrong adhesive, as well as other problems. The entire floor should be removed and another type of flooring should be installed.
He is local and been in business for some time.
I have all the correspondence, invoices, and the report from the expert. Where do I go from here?
Should I mail him the report and he be given the chance to replace the floor – file in small claims – or is this amount of money worth hiring a lawyer? Thank you
Hi Ed, Last week you mentioned that there is a new law regarding wills and beneficiaries. I missed some of it. Bad connection. Could you tell me where on line I could find the information? It was something about changing the will at the last minute or making someone else the beneficiary. I look forward to your show on Fridays. Thank you.
Ed,
Is there a podcast of your show on December 23? You were discussing Jesus being the reason for the season and I thought you were well versed in the bible. If I had not been driving I would have taken notes or recorded your show. What a blessing for all those that got to hear it. If I ever need a lawyer, I am calling you.
Most of the times injury takes place because of carelessness of a company or poor work conditions. Manufacture injury occurs when a person is injured by a product.Injury law is the law that pertains to any lawsuits that deal with injury. Types of injury lawsuits that are common.Personal injury law firm which enables people who have suffered injuries or losses.
Good morning Ed,
I am not sure that I heard it on your show so please forgive me if I didn’t…
I
understand there is a document that parents can have their adult child
execute that allows them to decide medical issues for their college
child in the event of a serious, incapacitating event. Do you know
anything about this?
Thanks,
Jim
So upset should of been need advice.
Need advise asap, company has not paid my bonus that I earned from Jan-March 2011. How long can they take ?
Ed,
You recommended a book on entrepeneurship yesterday, cannot remember the title. can you post it somewhere that I can view?
Ed your web site link does not work it goes to a web developer. Also, I really sometime ago on KSEV there was some legal advice (not sure if it was you) on 7 or 11 documents a family should have completed (will, power of att etc) to assure coverage. do you have any info on this? Thanks, enjoyed your show today Steve
I need the same reply of steve,. thanks a lot. byhe1
Will for husband; will for wife; Statutory Durable Power of Attorney for husband; Statutory Durable Power of Attorney for wife; Medical Power of Attorney for husband; Medical Power of Attorney for wife; Directive for Physicians for husband; Directive for Physicians for wife; organ donation for husband; and organ donation for wife. Other documents might be needed for specific cases such as a trust for a special needs child, or trust to safeguard title to homestead for elderly parent. Ed Mattingly 2011-07-21
Ed,
I have a business and am in a contract that was entered into under misleading promises. I would like to see if you could refer me to a lawyer that could review the contract annd help us in this matter. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Thank You, Joe Webber
Hi Ed
i have a camper with a bad roof the company said they would replace it and it has been two years i have a limited lifetime warranty but this is a manufacture defect can i sue .
Hi, Ed!
I was wondering if you know of any attorneys, local or otherwise, who have initiated any class-action lawsuits against the big lenders who coerce borrowers facing foreclosure into securing a loan modification when there is little or no chance that they will actually get one. I dug myself out of a big hole and avoided foreclosure myself recently, but it took almost a year longer than it should have because I was told I had no problem getting approved for a modification. My mortgager kept stringing me along month after month, while requiring me to continue making my payment. After nine months, two updated reapplications, and three revised sale dates on my house, I was informed that I didn’t qualify (no explanation whatsoever) and consequently thrown back into foreclosure for third time. I finally scraped together the money to get the loan reinstated, and now I have been current on it for a few months. I feel my lender misled me down a path to futility with this impossible modification, whereby I unnecessarily prolonged the dilenquency and incurred additional legal fees and interest. Had I been told the truth initially, I could have avoided this mess and got caught up months ago. Any help on this would be appreciated!!
Ed
I am new to this area and I enjoyed listening to your show the other day. You mentioned a local golf club, but I can’t remember the name. It was River… something. Could you please give me the name again.
Thanks
David H
Dear Dhamykk:
I did not see your post until today. THe course is River Ridge Golf Club in Sealy, Texas. It is due west on Katy Freeway until you come to the Brazos River. When you cross the bridge exit immediately. Curl around underneath the freeway overpass at the river and then head south on Chew Road less than mile until you see the entrance to the golf club. Turn left and head west two blocks and enter a golfer’s paradise. I love River Ridge. It is fun to play, always in great shape, and challenging. Let me know how you find it once you play the courtse.
Thanks for listening.
Ed Mattingly
Mattingly Law Firm
713.467.4400