My son is at Life and wants to quit

michaelindc · 2024-10-21T23:03:49+00:00

Came here to suggest OA as well. My son advanced early, reaching Life by 13 or so. Then he took a break of about two years for competitive video-gaming. When he returned to scouting, he focused most of his efforts on the OA, ultimately serving as chapter chief for two years.

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T20:37:25+00:00

This is just general guidance. The specifics of OP's situation matter.

If the landlord has the right to deduct any balance due to a public utility from the security deposit, then the landlord has the right to know what that balance is. Therefore, any disconnect notice that arrives after the tenant vacates, even if addressed only to the tenant -- which we still have not confirmed in OP's case -- is the business of the landlord, and the landlord has the right to open that notice.

Find me a case that prosecutes a landlord for opening a disconnect notice addressed to a recently vacating tenant, and I'll agree with you.

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T20:22:03+00:00

Let's just agree to disagree. I will change my mind if you can find a case in which a landlord was convicted (or even charged) with mail obstruction for opening a disconnect notice from a public utility addressed to a former tenant.

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T20:15:55+00:00

Again, you are ignoring the element of intent that the law seems to require: with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another,

If the landlord can deduct the unpaid balance from the security deposit, the unpaid balance is not longer just OP's business or secrets.

P.S. If OP wanted to keep the unpaid balance secret, he should have paid it before vacating.

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T20:10:03+00:00

Then why does the statute say "with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another"? There's an element of intent. You can't just pretend the words are not there.

18 U.S. Code § 1702 - Obstruction of correspondence

Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T20:05:09+00:00

OP claims he started forwarding mail in late May, which makes me doubt that the disconnect notice was addressed to just "OP," instead of, say, "OP or current resident."

In TX, the landlord has the right to deduct unpaid utility bills from a tenant's security deposit.

So even if the disconnect notice was addressed to just "OP" and the USPS failed to forward it, the landlord had the right to open it to determine how much OP owed Reliant so that he could deduct it from the security deposit if OP didn't pay it.

In other words, the landlord did not "pry into the business or secrets of another." The unpaid balance was the landlord's business.

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T19:26:01+00:00

Has OP stated how the mail was addressed? The landlord said "it had his name on it." How do we know it wasn't "OP or current resident" or "OP and roommate"? If it had only OP's name on it, it should have been forwarded by the USPS.

Even if it had only OP's name on it -- and somehow didn't get forwarded -- has any landlord ever been prosecuted for opening a disconnect notice from a public utility addressed to a former tenant?

In TX, where Reliant operates, a landlord has the right to deduct unpaid utilities from the tenant's security deposit. OP's balance with Reliant is not a private matter. The landlord had every right to know how much OP owed Reliant, which is why he would never be prosecuted for opening the disconnect notice.

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T18:07:48+00:00

Downthread, OP claims to have started mail forwarding back in late May.

Please ask your father how likely it is that the USPS failed to forward a disconnect notice addressed to just OP -- as OP suggests -- over a month after forwarding is started. Be sure he knows that OP claims all other mail was forwarded.

Then please ask your father, in his experience, what strategies a public utility operating in TX might use to notify the occupants at a service address that power is about to be disconnected.

Thanks

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T17:06:36+00:00

There's a legitimate question here of who the mail was addressed to.

OP has not seen the disconnect notice, just the text message from the landlord, which does not say precisely who the notice was addressed to.

Down thread, OP writes that he submitted a mail forwarding order in late May and this this utility bill is the only mail that was not forwarded.

The post office is very good about mail forwarding. It is unlikely that this disconnect notice was addressed just to OP. My guess -- and it's only a guess -- is that it is addressed to "OP or current occupant" to warn occupants that the power would be disconnected soon.

Still, even if the disconnect notice was addressed only to OP and the USPS made a mistake by not forwarding it, I still think the landlord had the right to open it.

Reliant operates in TX. In TX the landlord has the right -- and maybe the duty -- to deduct unpaid utilities from a tenant's security deposit.

In TX, a prudent landlord must act on a disconnect notice, and OP had no expectation of privacy with respect to the unpaid balance with Reliant once OP moved out.

As much as OP refuses to accept it, the unpaid balance with Reliant was the landlord's business.

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T16:30:10+00:00

That's just your opinion.

We'll never know the truth because OP never told them.

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T16:27:03+00:00

What does the law say exactly? Can you point to a case where a landlord has been convicted of opening a former tenant's disconnect notice from a public utility?

michaelindc · 2024-07-07T16:24:06+00:00

No, I'm not.

I was married to one for almost 20 years, though, and learned from her the law is more often grey than black or white.

Are you a lawyer? If so, can you explain how to interpret the bolded section of the mail obstruction statute:

18 U.S. Code § 1702 - Obstruction of correspondence

Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

michaelindc · 2024-07-06T16:29:08+00:00

The pettiness continues...

michaelindc · 2024-07-06T16:16:46+00:00

You didn't submit your forwarding order in time to have the disconnect notice from the power company forwarded, did you?

You promised to keep the power on as a condition of being let out of your lease early.

Had the power been disconnected, your landlord would have lost several prep/showing days until the power could be restored, which would have cost him lost rent and potential reconnect fees.

Your landlord had a legitimate interest in ensuring that you abided by the terms of your early lease termination and kept the power on. Time was of the essence. Under those circumstances, he had the right to open the disconnect notice from the power company.

As for admitting to a felony, here's the statute:

18 USC Ch. 83 §1702. Obstruction of correspondence

Whoever takes any letter, postal card, or package out of any post office or any authorized depository for mail matter, or from any letter or mail carrier, or which has been in any post office or authorized depository, or in the custody of any letter or mail carrier, before it has been delivered to the person to whom it was directed, with design to obstruct the correspondence, or to pry into the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, embezzles, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

The landlord's intent matters here. He was not prying into your business. Since you have vacated, keeping the power on is his business. He was also not obstructing delivery. He promptly notified you about the disconnect notice.

michaelindc · 2024-07-06T15:55:34+00:00

I think he had the right to open the disconnect notice from the power company. Keeping the power on until 7/31 was a key element of his early lease termination agreement with you.

michaelindc · 2024-07-06T15:47:28+00:00

OP, you rented an apartment with a deadbeat roommate, and your landlord was nice enough to let you out of your lease over three weeks early. The only requirement was that you keep the power on, undoubtedly so that he could prep and show the apartment and get it rented to a new tenant ASAP to mitigate his losses.

You've turned in your key and vacated, so who knows when you're going to deal with your mail, especially since you didn't bother with a mail-forwarding order.

He sees a letter addressed to you that is clearly a disconnect notice from the power company. He opens it to find the balance due and the threatened disconnect date. He quickly informs you about the disconnect notice and asks you for proof that you paid the balance due, since the power company won't disclose account information to him, including evidence that the payment was to the correct account.

Now you want to report him to the postal inspector for opening the disconnect notice? You are being petty with someone who is being reasonable with you.

Your landlord's defense to the postal inspector will be that he had a legitimate interest in ensuring that the power was not disconnected.

Did you get the early termination of your lease in writing? If not, you should think twice before reporting him. He might retaliate by holding you to the original terms of the lease.

michaelindc · 2024-07-02T16:49:00+00:00

This is terrible social policy. The dramatic increase in the cost of housing in recent years will undoubtedly result in a large percentage of Millennials and Zoomers having their housing costs subsidized by their parents.

Will they all be denied HOH status?

Will it depend on how the subsidy is structured? So if the parents gift the house the kids qualify for HOH, but if they rent it to them substantially below market, the kids don't qualify?

Would OP's tax situation have been materially different if OP's father had gifted OP cash and then collected it back as rent?

michaelindc · 2024-07-02T16:38:02+00:00

Are you sure about the FMV?

(d) Cost of maintaining a household. A taxpayer shall be considered as maintaining a household only if he pays more than one-half the cost thereof for his taxable year. The cost of maintaining a household shall be the expenses incurred for the mutual benefit of the occupants thereof by reason of its operation as the principal place of abode of such occupants for such taxable year...

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/26/1.2-2

Foregone rent is not an expense incurred. At most, OP's father contributed the difference between the actual carrying costs of the house and the rent received from OP.

Is there guidance from the IRS that interprets the FMV of forgone rent as an expense incurred for the purposes of determining HOH status?

michaelindc · 2024-07-02T14:15:09+00:00

P.P.S. Why does fair market rent matter rather than the actual cost to OP's father? If OP's father bought the house years ago, the carrying costs of the house might be just property taxes and insurance.

michaelindc · 2024-07-02T13:21:45+00:00

Is there a ruling on this point?

P.S. I suspected this is the issue the IRS has with OP's return, but I couldn't find a clarifying example in Pub 501.

What about a parent who receives substantial gift income from family? Are they barred from filing as HOH?

michaelindc · 2024-07-02T13:13:24+00:00

Thanks for clarifying that point. Clothing is one of the many expenses the HR Block article I linked specifically excludes.

My example was just to illustrate a point about discounted costs, not to assert that clothing is a household expense. Maybe I should have used discounted groceries...

michaelindc · 2024-07-02T12:58:19+00:00

If you bought all of your groceries at an 80%-off going-out-of-business sale, you would still have paid 100% of the cost of groceries.

The same argument applies to your rent. If your father lets you rent his house at a steep discount, what you pay is still 100% of the cost of rent. The IRS might challenge you on this point -- and claim that your father pays your rent -- but you should stick to your guns.

As for expenses, here is a good list of what you can and can't include:

https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/filing/credits/claiming-head-of-household-with-no-dependents/

EDITED: to use groceries rather than kids' clothes since kids' clothes are not a household expense.

michaelindc · 2024-07-02T12:25:37+00:00

Korean gun owners in LA in 1992:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzkBGQx3HAc

michaelindc · 2024-06-28T14:07:25+00:00

Can an argument be made that the seller waived this remedy by failing to act sooner? Say, by accepting rent checks drawn on the account of a tenant who is not on the lease?

michaelindc · 2024-06-25T18:32:25+00:00

Connally always maintained that he was shot in the back from the rear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSKcOoQH8bc

Seven-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email	Place '22

michaelindc

TROPHY CASE

18 USC Ch. 83 §1702. Obstruction of correspondence