Coming up on this edition of Judica County Radio, your host, Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer, managing partners, Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm, your practicing attorneys here in North Carolina, getting into legal questions, including the Airbnb neighbor nightmare. We'll talk about that. The I signed without reading contract, that's a legal question we'll hit, the estate loan to one child, and the fence that's in the wrong place. That's just to name a few of the questions we hit today on Judica County. Right.
Whitaker and Hayes. represents Judica County. with Joshua Whitaker and Joseph Hayner. Welcome in to Judica County Radio, hosted by Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer. They're the managing partners at Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm, located right here in North Carolina, and that's where they practice law, and they've placed offices.
All across our great state for your convenience. They're here in Raleigh, also Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fucuve Arena, Gastonia, and down at the coast, Moorhead City. I'm Morgan Patrick. Pleasure to jump on with the attorneys, talk about legal subjects. You're going to have questions about your situation, and we have complimentary consults.
We'll tell you about those as we move through the show. But, Josh, good to see you guys. Been a little bit of a hiatus. It's that time of year, but we're back at it. and let's just talk how the week was.
Week was good, man. But we haven't we haven't sat down together in. It's been three weeks, right? We missed three weeks.
Well, I mean we we've had things come up on all of our plates and now we're back. You remember why we didn't get together the first week? I don't remember. Oh yeah, you lost your voice. No, no, no, no, that was last week.
First the first week we missed. Is that my fault? I think it was your fault, yeah. Yeah. I was uh I was doing the uh Disney World for the cheerleading competition.
So how did you place Joe? I dominated, clearly. I'm an unstoppable force. I'm guessing you were the base of the pyramid. I'm just guessing.
I make him hold me up. The children. The cheerleaders that don't do well and underperform, they have to hold me up as punishment. Yeah. But you had fun.
Yeah, I love cheerleading, man. Can't you? No, no, I mean, y'all had fun. Y'all were visited. Yeah, had fun at the Disney.
Yeah, good times.
So we didn't have Joseph, and then I got I got I got caught something and it killed me for two weeks.
So I felt like crap week two. And then we Three, I didn't have a voice. Like, I was. I was uh voicing. How does that work for you in court?
Well, I didn't have to go to court. Luckily, it was like a two or three day period where I just had no. Voice like I could talk to you, but you had to be real close, and it was like old man whispery voice while you were whispering. Yeah, getting a preview into five years from now when you're an old geriatric man. This is Josh after hours.
I had to get really up on you if I if I needed to tell you something, you know. All right, it's a family show now, but um. But but we're but we're back, so that's good news. Go ahead.
Now, we got to explain to our listeners that we We hook up virtually, we're all in the area, but we have studios in different offices. We can see each other, and what we do is we take a lot of the video from the show, and it's cut up into social media. But you guys haven't asked me about my. my attire today, which is very floral. It is very Hawaiian, Hawaiian shirt day for you, right?
I was hypnotized by it.
So I came home with this shirt, and Michelle, the first thing she said was, What? is that? And I said, well, it was on sale. And she's like, for a reason. And then to add a little bit of fun to it, the first day I wore it, I walked into a Trader Joe's.
Just to do some shopping. And I was asked several times where things were. They thought I was an employee.
So I've never been to Trader Joe's. Dude, you're missing out. Yeah, what are you doing? Yeah, there's just some really good snack foods in there. They kind of trend towards.
A little bit more healthy eating. That's probably why you haven't been in there, Josh. I'm still sick. Hold on. Not for you, man.
You got me coughing, man. Oh my God, it's healthy? No, run, run away. I bought one Hawaiian shirt in 1998 for a party. It's still the only Hawaiian shirt I have.
It only comes out. When I have to go to some sort of party that requires you telling me a shirt that you had in 98 fits you now, it does, man. It does.
Well, I mean, come on, let's be honest. When you go Hawaiian, which I'm guilty I'm wearing it right now, you're just giving up. You know, it's like. It's a big pattern, it's a big splotch. You don't have to tuck it in.
You've given up. It's a good symbol. I like it. Thank you. You've been to a Trader Joe's?
You've been there? Me? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I've been.
I mean, I don't go all there's not one that's conveniently located. You know, near me. But I have been to Trader Joe's. I don't think they have many Trader Joe's on the south side of town where. where we live, man.
Trader Joe's is like a North Riley kind of kind of thing, right? It's not a south side. They got a couple in North Riley. They got one in Carey. Got a couple in Carey.
Actually, two or three in Cary. Are you the spokesman for Trader Joe's, Morgan? I just seem very in tune to what's going on there, man. Isn't that where uh who's the guy from the Cosby show that was like uh He married one of the s one of the sisters. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
He worked there part-time. He worked there part-time. No, not Bill. There's no out in LA. I know who you're talking about.
Yeah. What's that guy's name? He plays Don. He was Donovan McNabb on Always Sunny. What's that guy's name?
I didn't know that. I'll look it up. I can't believe you man. But it's an experience. On the south side of town we get a food lion.
Like my father and his father before him. That's where we get our groceries. That's a fine. Nothing wrong with Foodline. Foodline's awesome.
I had to. My wife was making dinner, and she wanted some kind of fancy cheese. To go with dinner. And so she made me a list and she sent me: we needed Worcestershire sauce and some.
So I went to Foodline because that's where I go when I have to go get groceries. I go to Foodline. Foodline doesn't have a lot of fancy cheeses. That's not their that's not really in their wheelhouse. Actually, and and Trader Joe's is big on the cheese.
Yeah, they got plenty of fancy cheese. Got a nice nice selection.
So your uh Cosby show actor Jeffrey Owens. Reveals he still struggles to make ends meet after viral Trader Joe's moment.
So he was working at Trader Joe's. Yeah, I thought I saw that. That's got to be tough, though, when you're on a show. I mean, it's not like he made millions of dollars. He was just on the show a couple of times, you know, and people remember you.
And then you can't really remember them. I think me and Morgan. You know, I question both of your commitment. To the Cosby show. I don't think you still watch The Cosby Show.
I think that's a very fair statement.
So the character's name Elvin Thibodeau. Yeah. Yeah. And he married the oldest sister, who was the lamest sister on the Cosby show. I don't know.
And a lot of people feel like if you make it on a particular show, it's Easy Street. It's not. I mean, they're basically contract employees. They don't get benefits. I mean, there are a lot of things that we assume that actors get and they just don't.
And if you make it, I mean you really have to make it. And there are very few many pe there are very few people that actually get to the level. I went down a rabbit hole the other day. You guys won't know they answered any of these questions I'm about to ask you, but I went down a rabbit hole because when you know, we're in that period where there's no real sports on the weekend. Like, you have to go to the next one.
Is this a Simpsons rabbit hole? No. It's good. Close. But There's no sports on, right?
So, normally, when sports are on, like me and my boys were up, and we might be outside mowing or doing something on the weekend, getting ready to go somewhere, but sports center's on. You know, college football's on, NBA basketball. Right now you got playoff hockey. And you got baseball. And so it was either last Saturday, I think it was last Saturday.
But we don't turn the TV on, right? There's no sports on, so the TV's off. And so my wife will come downstairs and she'll turn the TV on. And if she turns the TV on, we watch. Golden girls.
Golden Girls will just be on, and it just is on forever, right? Golden Girls never goes off TV. It's just always on TV somewhere. Yeah, it's a cult following, I'm aware. Do you remember what happened?
to Golden Girls in the very end. Like when it ended they die no they don't die. Oh They do die eventually. B Arthur's character marries. Leslie Nilsen from The Naked Gun and that Golden Girl show ends.
But before it ends, you know it had a spin-off. what was the first spin off of the Golden Girls. The Silver Ladies. Oh, man. Come on.
This is easy, man. This is easy stuff. Oh, it was the Golden Palace? Or was it Empty Nest?
Okay. Empty Nest. I definitely knew that. Did not Google it. Good job, Joe.
Empty Nest was a spin-off of the Golden Girls while the Golden Girls was still on.
Okay. And so Empty Nest was about this doctor guy, right? And he lived next door. And so there was a bunch of crossover stuff. Then Golden Girls ends.
I don't remember this. Yes, B. Arthur leaves TV.
Okay. The rest of the Golden Girls, there's a new show called The Golden Palace. They buy like an Airbnb before it was an Airbnb. Yep.
So their spin-off is The Golden Palace. Empty Nest has a spinoff show called The Nurses. Yep.
Yep.
So there's a day and time where you could watch The Golden Girls, followed by Empty Nest, followed by Nurses.
So you had three spin-offs, you had three shows. on one day. It's a whole cinematic universe there. That's right. That was the first.
Anyway, it was a rest. I went down. I didn't know all that. I couldn't, I never put all that stuff together. I'm very impressed.
Here's the other thing about the Golden Girls that kind of flipped me was. I couldn't believe it.
So, in the, I guess, the age when you watch the show. the the the actress that was Depicted as the oldest of the group was actually. I know that used to be I used to that used to trip people out, man. Yeah. I mean, she she just uh you know, obviously she looked a little bit older.
Hey, we need to take a break. We'll come back. We do have some legal questions. We will not uh talk about wardrobe or The Golden Girls.
Well, maybe we will. Judica County Radio, there's an opportunity to get on the calendar with Whitaker and Hamer, a complimentary consult in around estate planning, maybe a personal injury case. You need to know how to proceed with that. You've got some questions. Grab one of the consults, 919-7727000.
That'll get you in touch with the law firm, 919-7727000. You can also visit the website, w.lawyer, and get signed up for that as well. Again, complimentary consult awaits. We've got more Judica County Radio coming up. We are back on Judica County Radio, hosted by Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer, Managing Partners, Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm, located right here in North Carolina, where they practice law.
And they put offices all over our great state down at the coast, Moorhead City. You've got Gastonia over near Charlotte, Fuquay Verena, Goldsboro, Clayton, Garner, Cleveland, and of course the Cap City, Raleigh, North Carolina. I'm Morgan Patrick. Pleasure to jump on with the attorneys, and we do get into legal questions. We also give you an opportunity at a complimentary consult with Whitaker and Hamer in and around estate planning, get your affairs in order, or if there's a personal injury case that you need some help with, you can grab one of the consults as well.
Anytime, call 919-772-7000. It's 919-7727000. You can also visit the website. It's a resource for you at wh.lawyer. First question up.
Guys, the forgotten beneficiary form.
So the question is: my husband passed away with a will, leaving everything equally to our children and myself, but his old 401k still names his brother from 20 years ago as a beneficiary. Who probably gets that money?
So You know, we get different variations of this question. It comes up a lot in estate planning. And so I will just say: you know, if you sit down with me and Joe. And we talk about. Your assets.
Right? We talk about your What you own, your retirement accounts, your condo in Myrtle Beach, right? Your house. We talk about all of your assets. And You know, me and Joe in our head, we're separating these assets.
These are assets that have to pass through probate if we don't do anything. And these are these are non-probate. And so a 401k in an investment account. is is is non-probate. A meaning.
Your will doesn't matter. to a non-probate asset you're you're trust You know, doesn't matter. This 401k, it sounds like when this guy. Set up his 401k. It sounds like he wasn't married, he didn't have kids yet.
So he set up his 401k. When you set up a 401k, You have to name a beneficiary. And it sounds like he named his brother. That's what I'm guessing happened. Does that sound like what this fact pattern?
Sounds accurate to me. Yeah. And then he never. Updated as beneficiary. Right, and so it sounds like he did an estate plan because he had a will.
He leaved everything to his his spouse and his kids. But again, that will does not control. Non-probate assets. We have a lot of people who come in. I know Joe sees this too.
We have a lot of people that come in. And they create, you know, they want to create a will and they want to leave $10,000 to this person and $20,000 to this charity, and they want. This nephew to get some money, and so they have all these things. But then we actually talk about what'll be in their state. Right, and a lot of their assets are non-probate.
So I was like, there won't be enough in this estate. to do what you want it to do. The will can only control assets that are in your A state. Again, the 401k would not be without.
some changes. And so here, you know, what's going to happen is the brother is going to. Be the beneficiary. The brother is going to get whatever's in the 401k.
Now, I would imagine if you have a loving brother He's going to recognize this mistake, right? He's not going to run off with your 401k money, right? Your brother's probably going to try to get that money to where he knew his. Brother wanted it to go, but he doesn't have to. Yeah.
Your your estate plan's only as good as, you know Whether you have a trust, whether you have a will, your trust is only as good as what you fund it with.
So if you have a wonderfully drafted trust. You put nothing in it, it's essentially useless to you. And we get that question a lot too. We get that question a lot too, where someone passes away. And we're like, oh, we've we find the trust, they have a trust that's great.
You know, and I say it over and over: the trust is like a bucket, right? You've got to take an active step to put things in the trust. And we have people who get this, they pay someone to do it, they create this trust, and there's nothing in the trust. And the trust isn't doing anything, it doesn't control anything. And it's the same thing with a will.
You may pass away and have no probate assets besides, like, you know, a used car. or a boat trailer. Right, and you've made all these bequests in your will, but there's nothing to fund that. And so that's part of estate planning. Part of estate planning is you telling us what you want to do, and me and Joe saying, hey, that's not going to work.
Here's why. Here's what you could do if you want to do that. Um But um Yeah, that happens a lot.
So, you know, a lot of times it's like an ex-spouse or something.
So, here it's the brother. And, like I said, if it's a nice, loving, kind brother, he's going to probably realize this was an error. and not want to rob the his brother's widow and his And his children, you know. Yeah, but Questions, legal questions from all over the gamut. We are talking about that today here on Whitaker and Hamer's Judica County Radio.
And if you've got questions in and around estate planning, maybe a personal injury case, you don't know how to proceed, you can grab one of our complimentary consults. You can do that at any time. Just call 919-7727000, 919-77270000. You can also visit the website wh.law. Your next question up, guys: the Airbnb neighbor nightmare.
Here's the question: My neighbor turned their house into a full-time Airbnb. Cars are blocking driveways every weekend, and people use our private neighborhood lake access. The HOA, the covenants, are old and don't mention Airbnb. Can the HOA probably stop this?
Well, mm. I think You know, this is good. I think this is a good question. This is a popular topic if you practice real estate law. This short-term rental, this Airbnb.
This is a This is a hot topic across The country Right, a lot of people do really well with Airbnbs converting. you know, uh residential houses into short-term Rentals And you can make a lot of money if you do it right, and you got a good location, but your neighbors. probably don't like you. Yeah. Because every couple of days there's people who are on vacation who may be partying Um I don't know that it's fun to live next to a nonstop Party.
It depends on how much you like partying, I think. If you're a party, think about it: Airbnb, a bunch of 20-year-olds, you know, mid-20s just show up and. Uh they're there for forty eight hours and they don't care. And you're living in that. Yeah.
I'm super old mannish. I would get out on the yard and yell at them, you know, shake off. Get off my phone. But so this is a very hot topic because people, you know, if you run an Airbnb right, you're going to make more money than if you just rented it out to somebody for like a year, right? You're going to be able to make more money.
It's going to produce more income. You get more value out of the house. Your neighbors probably aren't super psyched. And so, if you're turning a house into a subdivision, With a nature way, And with covenants, there's rules about what you can and can't. do in most covenants Don't address Short-term rentals because it's a relatively new.
Yeah. And so you see a lot of HOAs who are trying to make some rules when it comes to rentals in general. and especially short-term rentals, but covenants aren't easy to change. on purpose. You don't want your HOA covenants, you don't want 20% of the homeowners to be able to change covenants.
So it's usually. what we call a supermajority. I know you see that a lot. Joseph. Yeah, and not just short-term rentals, you know.
There's there's neighborhoods that are You know, super opposed to rentals, period, right? Like any kind of rental property, they don't like it. And um, but yeah, I think during COVID, you saw the rise of the national companies that were trying to acquire. Rental property, and you know, some neighborhoods got kind of ransacked. and became like half rental, half homeowner.
And you're right, that kind of started then, right? But yeah, if it's not in the covenants, you know, there's no. You can't just get your cool buddies that you agree with in the neighborhood together and just say, hey, no more rentals. You've got to go through the process, you've got to go through the procedure. And you've got to take the steps required to amend those covenants.
And. Um you know That's a process and It ain't the easiest thing in the world to do necessarily, depending on what the framework is. Like you said, it's normally. Hopefully, it's stated in the covenant so it's clear, but in the absence of that, you're going to likely need a super majority of the homeowners. And you're going to have to go door to door, get everybody to sign, et cetera.
Judica County Radio, we're going to take a short break and again going over legal questions. The last one, the Airbnb neighbor nightmare. If you've got questions about possibly estate planning, maybe a personal injury case, you need to know how to proceed, you can grab one of our complimentary consults by calling 919-77270000. That'll get you in touch with Whitaker and Hamer, the power behind this program. 919-77270000 or visit the website wh.lawyer.
We've got more at Judica County coming up. Um Judica County Radio, hosted by Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer. They're the managing partners at Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm right here in North Carolina, where they practice law. And they have offices all across our state for your convenience. They're here in the Cap City, Raleigh.
They're down in Garner, also Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsborough, Fucuv Arena, down near Charlotte in Gastonia, and over at the coast, Moorhead City. Again, Whitaker and Hamer, the power behind this program. I'm Morgan Patrick. Want to remind you that there are complimentary consults available through Whitaker and Hamer. If you've got questions about estate planning or maybe there's a personal injury case and you just don't know how to proceed, grab one of the consults, 919-77270000.
It's 919-77270000. We tackle legal questions on the program from time to time. And the next one up is: I signed without. Reading the contract, that's the category. Here's the question: I signed a contract for solar panels during a sales presentation at my house.
I later realized there was a 25-year financing agreement buried in the paperwork. Am I stuck? Morgan, what kind of um. You go somewhere and you order a hot dog.
Okay. All right. What kind of hot dog are you hoping that they they they serve there? All beef, organic, hot dog.
So that was the wrong answer, Morgan. I'm sorry. Apparently, so. Wait, tie this back to solar panels. Hot dogs, solar panels?
What are you doing, Josh? Joseph, I think I know what you're going to say, but what kind of hot dog? You go order a hot dog. What kind of hot dog are you hoping that they give you? I'm not a hot dog snob, right?
So, like, if they give me one of the fancy Morgan dogs. that uh has been pl cleansed of all impurities. and it's made from the finest Blessed by a priest. But I'm from Clayton North. You don't have to bring religion into this.
This is about hot dogs. I'm from Clayton, North Carolina, and I've probably eaten 17,000. Uh red Hot dogs. in my life. And so I think we should get we gotta so at the law firm, we have a lot of smart you've got an answer to this question.
I know you've got an answer to this question. We have a lot of smart people here at the law firm. And I'm amazed at what they can do, what we get done for people, like some of the ski. You know, we've had people doing the same thing for 20, 25, 30 years, and they're great at it. And I've all we I'm gonna take all my best people, and there's got to be a formula to figure out how many hot dogs me and Joe have eaten.
in our life. You could probably average. Attorney partners that have eaten the most number of hot dogs. I think we should create some sort of charity contest where we just sit down one day and we just eat hot dogs for as long as we can eat hot dogs. Not like speed.
We're not going for speed. We're going for volume. We're going for volume in a one 24-hour period.
Okay. So I'm just going to put this out here because you've put it out there and now you that now that the algorithm has been set and it's in motion, you are going to be contacted by so many different doctors that are concerned about your health by the number of hot dogs that you've devoured over your what is what what are you mid-forties, Joshi? I'm late 40s, my friend. Late 40s, and Joe is late 30s because there's a 10-year gap, and I'm late 50s.
So. I think you will see the light at some point and you'll go tofu dog. I'm just guessing. We need to get to a real doctor that understands that understands hot dog the nutritional benefits of hot dogs.
Some fancy teacher told my youngest that hot dogs were carcinogens and he does not want to eat hot dogs now because Yeah, and he's eating other crap. That's why you change schools for your kids. Yeah, I pulled them out that day. I thought apparently this is nonsense. We eat 18 hot dogs a day in this house.
Yeah, I'm going to guess that you're going to go get some dogs. Let's take a short break. We'll come back on the other side. I signed without reading the contract. We will actually talk about that.
Maybe. Not hot dogs. Possibly. Maybe we'll hand in with hot dogs and then we'll talk about it. But anyway, Judica County Radio, Josh Whitaker, Joe Hamer, managing partners, Whitaker and Hamer law firm, and they're practicing attorneys here in North Carolina.
And it's all about helping. Again, estate planning, personal injury. You got questions about those? Grab one of our complimentary consults, 919-7727000. That's 919-7727000, or visit the website, wh.lawyer.
More Judica County coming out. Judica County Radio, hosted by Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer. They're practicing attorneys here in North Carolina. And of course, they are Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm. They're the founders.
And it's all about help in North Carolina and estate planning and personal injury cases. If you've got questions, you can grab a complimentary consult at any time by calling 919-7727000. That's 919-7727000. You can visit the website, w.law, you're a good resource for you. But again, offices are all over the state for your convenience: Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuque, Rena, Castonia, and in Moorhead City.
All right, so the question that we're going to try to tackle, if we can, is the I signed without reading the contract, and I signed a contract for solar panels during a sales presentation at my house. Later, I realized there was a 25-year financing agreement. buried in the paperwork in the small print, am I stuck here? Uh I mean, I guess the answer here is maybe. This is one of those questions where we don't have.
as many facts as we would probably like. There's some facts here that would be You know, good. But you know, if that was disclosed, you know, if that was properly disclosed. I mean, if it's in the contract, you should read the contract, right? I got a note here, and I like this note.
It says courts usually expect adults to read contracts. Yeah. I like that. bamboozled. But it's plain as day in the contract, the court's not going to have much sympathy for you.
Um now They can't trick you. Right, they can't commit fraud. There's certain things that. that people selling these solar panels can't do. But I'm gonna at least assume that they were on the level.
I never want anybody, I don't wanna buy anything at my house. I don't wanna talk to anybody in my house. I don't wanna conduct business in my house. That's a bad sign, I think. Including your kids and your wife, right?
You don't wanna talk to them. I don't want someone. I don't want. Like, how does that ever work, man? Like, if you come to my house.
And I'm not expecting you. Or you're not like a lifelong friend who just happened to be in the neighborhood.
Some people feel bad. They don't like hurting people's feelings, man. And they get stuck in the body. They're southern, man. And then they end up buying a lot of books.
That is a southern, you know, I, you know, a lot of a lot of um Older folks get scammed. Yeah. Right. Because they still pick up the phone. Right.
Nobody cools calling you on your phone. The only people calling you on your landline, if you still got one. are like Ethiopian princes and Scammer. Which are some great conversationalists, don't get me wrong. But that's what happens.
Like in Southern, we've always been really nice to people. You know, we want to help people. And I think that kind of stuff worked for a long time. I think we're coming to the end of that era because I ain't opening the door. Unless I know you.
And I check to see if I know you because sometimes I don't even check. We had somebody come over to the house. It was like Tuesday night last week, and it was like 9:15. But I was already in the bed watching baseball. I'm sure you were thrilled.
But then I heard the dogs going nuts. I was like, who was that? And then I was happy to see. Who it was. They just happened to be around.
So that happened. They just showed up at your house at 9 o'clock? I know, on a Tuesday. Fresh out of prison? I don't understand.
But um Yeah, I don't want anybody coming to my house to try to sell me something. Like, I just. I would never buy it, even if it was something I wanted. You know, like even I was like, wow, I can't believe. Yeah, I'm just not going to do it at my house.
I'm usually, I don't have a shirt on, you know, usually at my house. I'm not wearing a bunch of shirts. You're probably going to get a discount then, man. That's fantastic. If I don't know you, I'm not putting on a shirt.
I'm not rushing to put on a shirt to answer at the door if I don't know you. No chance. You're just getting what you get, you know. I'm going to start selling things door to door just to experience that, man. Sell law.
We'll just go around and offer our legal services door to door. Do you need an estate plan? Shirtless Josh just rolls in. Yeah, just use some marker and put a little billboard on your bare back and just watch it. That's a fantastic business plan.
I know. We've got to work on this one. We've got to really. We got to really work on it.
So, the solar panel, you're probably stuck with your solar panels unless you can prove they did something, you know, unfair and deceptive trade practices. They did a fraud, they had it buried in a small font somewhere on the back of a piece. You know, there's some facts here that could make this where you might have a. You might have a good claim, but if it's all been laid out for you and Um You know, you're probably stuck with it. You're probably, but um, you're, yeah.
I got good notes on this one. It says, I didn't read it, is usually not a legal defense. No, it's not. It's not, man. You'd be shocked that you feel like it should be, but it is not, in fact.
But again, when you're doing financing, there's rules, there's federal laws, things have to be disclosed. They have to tell you what it's going to cost you over 25 years.
So, in this situation, I doubt this in-home solar panel salesperson probably did everything by the book.
So there's probably an angle there. But don't sign big, thick contracts that people just show up to your house with. Don't sign skinny little contracts that people show up to your house with without. I mean, don't sign anything without reading it, man. For the very most part.
Now, you know, I say that, but I know you're the same as me, Josh. Like, if you're going to buy a car. You're not reading the fine print of every single standardized document that they're presenting you. And I'm not recommending that you necessarily do that. You understand the terms, you understand the things that are important.
You understand your note that that that is your financial obligation. Those are all important things, but You're telling me you're reviewing line by line the the limited POA that you've signed a hundred times?
Well, I know what it is. Exactly.
So know where things are. Yeah, I was just going to throw this in.
So it's probably a substantial amount of money. Yeah. For these solar panels. And you're upgrading. If you have a relationship with, I don't know, an attorney.
alike Whitaker and Hamer. Why not run the contract by your lawyers? Especially if it's big and it's thick and it could have some things in there that you're not aware of. I think that's I just don't think people think that way. If the contract is maybe it's digital, they have to scroll through it.
But you find things like that out. I think I'd run it by the attorney. Fantastic. I know everybody. I know everybody thinks AI is going to replace us and What is it, 11 months?
What was that story? AI is going to replace all white-collar jobs in the next 11 months.
Well, you can answer this question, guys. You're in this legal business. One of the first things I heard, and again, this is. It's coming at you from a thousand different places, but AI and the paralegal position. With firms, it feels like maybe that is going to be impacted quite a bit.
I don't know, man. I like human beings. I don't think. Yeah. AI can do a lot of cool stuff.
They just claw just released a bunch of legal tools. That I've been playing with, but I think it's just a tool. You know, it's just, it'll make certain things easier. I don't think for like, what we do. You know, if you're like an international law firm and you're working on a mega transaction and there's usually 80 attorneys working on it, you can probably eliminate some of those attorneys with.
with AI as it develops. uh for like document review and things like that, but I still don't see you know AI airballs most of the things I ask it about, unless I'm asking it about the Golden Girls. Yeah, it gets that and it nails that. It kills it. Yeah.
But if you're asking AI to make a decision. Right. You know, or of course then it can't appear in court. Yeah, maybe it can later, you know. But um I'm not, I just think it's going to be an excellent tool.
And I think anybody, any industry, legal, Or not legal, I think you need to learn how to use it. Yeah, for sure. Our paralegals need to understand how to use it responsibly. We've been using AI for years here at the firm. Yeah.
Yeah. And we were ahead of the curve on that.
Well, and again, we've got to take a short break and we'll do that. But I do want to ask on the other side just about your thoughts being lawyers, is there going to be regulation of AI moving forward? It just seems like a lot of people are talking about it. It just seems like it's the wild, wild West right now.
So that's a question that I'll pose when we come back from the break. You can talk about that. We'll also get into some more legal questions. Judica County Radio, Josh Whitaker, Joe Hamer, they're the managing partners, Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm. They practice law right here in North Carolina.
Offices in Raleigh, Garner, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuque, Verena, Gastonia, and in Moorhead City. A complimentary consults available, estate planning, maybe a personal injury case. You need some questions answered. Grab one of the consults, 919-7727000. That's 919-7727000.
You can also visit the website, wh.lawyer. Sign up for that consult right there. We've got more at Judica County Radio coming up. Judica County Radio, hosted by Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer, managing partners, Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm, practicing attorneys here in North Carolina. Offices all over the place: Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay Verena, Gastonia, and down at the beach, Moorhead City.
I'm Morgan Patrick. Pleasure to jump on with the attorneys, talk about legal questions. I throw them, they answer them. We also get into some interesting banter from time to time, but there are complimentary consults available with the firm. Estate planning, maybe a personal injury case you're dealing with, and you've got questions, grab one of the consults: 919-77270000.
There's no cost to that, there's no obligation. 919-77270000. You can also visit WHO. Dot Lawyer.
So, the question that I posed going into our last break was: the regulation of AI. Is that possible, guys? It just seems like the toothpaste out of the tube. It is, I mean, it is just going bananas.
Now, we are seeing a lot of media about. Data processing centers, data center protests in different communities because of the amount of energy. that would be required to maintain these data centers, and they're popping up everywhere.
So there's a lot of protests. We see that in the media. But what about regulation of AI? I don't know. I was thinking the other day, you know, I was thinking about, you know, because I remember life before the internet.
I didn't I didn't have internet until I got to NC State University and got an email address and uh All I did with the internet back then was send Emails. And play fantasy sports because fantasy sports on the internet were a lot funner. More fun. than uh than they had been before. That's all I did with the internet for like Four years.
And then the internet put traditional like newspaper, print. you know media out of business It sh you know, it rocked retail. It changed Retail. And this has been 30 years, right? We've had the internet for what, 30, 35 years, consumer internet.
So I'm sure AI will disrupt even more. Um But no, I imagine it's pretty hard to regulate. You know, I guess it just depends on Mm-hmm. things that I'm not smart enough to know. I'm sure at some point, I mean, there's the.
It's the exponential growth factor, right? Like, it's just growing and it's changing so fast that. Yeah. There's no telling what it's going to look like and what the landscape's going to be. you know Even a year from now, I mean We were early adopters on the AI front, and the leaps that it makes.
It's crazy. I mean, it's just absolutely insane. I think I'm gonna make AI Draft and run my fantasy football team. Yeah, it probably. I mean, it would probably do better potentially.
But you did pretty good. You know, you did all right. I had a good idea. Who won the league? Who won the league championship?
I think the guy that used AI and is wearing a Hawaiian shirt right now because AI probably recommended that shirt to him. I think I won the championship, right? You won the tournament championship. Yeah, which is how you win fantasy football, Josh. We've had the final tournament.
Yeah, we have. I won Mr. Congeniality. And I'm over it. I am totally over it.
Whatever. I want best friend to the people in the league.
Well, who's the who, when you, when you, so in an ACC season, ACC basketball, we all love ACC basketball. Would you rather be? I think I just answered my own question. Would you rather be the regular season champ? Or would you rather be the ACC tournament champ?
Tournament. Yeah, because you get the NCAA bid, right? Yeah, yeah. But it's different. It is different.
It's different. It's not a good apple. I see the argument for fantasy football because it's like: who was the best team all year? And uh But at the same time, the best team all year, and then they blew it in the playoffs. That's your change.
At the same time, I can see both arguments, you know? And for me, it's going to depend on which of those things I win. That's what's going to happen. I'm not bitter for me. Yeah, tomorrow.
If next season I win, I lose the reason. Or do 100% making the opposite argument? The tournament's the most important for everybody. Dang, right. I agree, man, wholeheartedly.
Were we gonna do a legal question? Yeah, we were. We were.
So here's the question: the category, the fence. Is in the wrong place. Here it is. A survey before closing showed my neighbor's fence is actually 12 feet. on to my property.
That's a long way. The fence has apparently been there since 1998. Can I probably make them move it? These are like, all these questions we answer, these remind me of like bar questions. Yeah.
Right. to get to like the legal So, this question is designed to make us talk about adverse possession, the adverse possession of real property. That's what. That's what this is designed to do. And um I don't know that I want to talk about advice.
Yeah, I don't know, man. I like. Let's go back to hot dogs and fantasy football. I think that's.
So, if you have somebody who has a fence on your, that is not enough. Adverse possession is a complicated, you can throw it into your AI. Adverse possession is a complicated legal doctrine, and it has many elements. You have to meet. You can't just.
fence in some property. And then unknowingly get title to that property 21 years from now using the doctrine. Of adverse possession. And so there's Five, six, seven, I think six elements of adverse possession. You have to prove.
And you have to do that in court in front of a judge. But the point here is that that fence has been there since 1998. That is more than 21 years. And so, in theory, as an attorney. We look at that neighbor and say that neighbor could potentially have an adverse possession claim.
Because what the new owner is going to ask us is, Can I go just tear that fence down? And I was like, No, I wouldn't go tear that fence down. Yeah. I would via an attorney or just going over, I would talk to your neighbor and say, hey, look, I got this survey. And and see see what see what they say.
Um But that's an issue that can come up. But you know, an adverse possession. Claim is very legally, it's technical. And we need more facts than we got here. But.
That could be an issue. could be an issue. And and and in all likelihood, you know You'll have the ability to get the defense removed, right? Like, you know, there's legal mechanisms that you can go about, but. Yeah, your advice is sound.
Don't just go tear it down. Never go tear anything down. And right now, the guy asking our question doesn't own the property yet. Right, he's getting a survey done before closing, which is smart. And so in that play, in that scenario, the play is.
Make your seller get it fixed before you purchase the property. Yeah, anytime you figure out, anytime you're doing your due diligence in a real estate purchase, you're buying a house, you get a survey. You get a home inspection. You know, as long as you're in your due diligence period. Those are all seller problems.
You bring those up to your seller. Hey look, man, the HVAC didn't turn on. I think this fence is in the wrong place, you know, we got a survey done, this fence is in the wrong place. Those are all your seller's problems until you buy the house. And if you buy the house and you don't get those things fixed, then they're your problems.
Um, after closing, so this is good. Our potential buyer got a survey ahead of time. He found an issue, he's going to bring it up to the seller, try to get it fixed. uh before before they close So, this is a good story.
So, we're not. I was just gonna jump in and ask, I mean, you guys handle a lot of real estate. Does this come up with you guys uh s I guess things that are in this category? Does it come up a lot? Yeah, this is a this is a more common I mean, there there's we've talked about like really obscure situations with real estate law that don't occur a ton but can happen.
I'd say this is one of the more common scenarios in terms of like problems you're going to see. Fences, driveways that concrete driveways that spill onto other people's property. You see some sheds that just get set up and uh You know, some of the bad things is sometimes you see decks get built that encroach onto someone else's property. And it's only happened to me once or twice, but we have had surveys come back and like part of a house is on somebody else's property. And that's terrible for everybody involved.
And you wonder how that. you know, even happens this day and age, but that still happens from time to time. It's important to again Seek legal advice when it comes to situations just like we were talking about. If you're buying real estate, something's going to pop up. Again, work with professionals and make sure you're taking care of the situation and you're doing it legally.
Judica County Radio, we're going to take a short break, come back. We've got one more segment, got probably a couple more questions we'll be able to hit. Judica County Radio offering up through Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm the power behind this program. These are complimentary consults in and around estate planning or personal injury. Just call 919-7727000.
That's 919-7727000. That'll get you hooked up with that. And we want to remind you, too, offices are located convenient for you in Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuque Barina, Castonia, and in Moorhead City. You can visit there as well. 919-7727000.
Got one more segment coming up. You're listening to Judica County Radio. Um Judica County Radio, hosted by Josh Whitaker, Joe Hamer. They're the managing partners at Whitaker and Hamer law firm, practicing attorneys here in North Carolina. Offices located at Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay Verina, Gastonia, and in Moorhead City.
I'm Morgan Patrick. Pleasure to jump on with the attorneys. Hit some legal questions. You're going to have questions maybe about a situation you're in. And if it's in and around estate planning or maybe a personal injury case.
No cost, no obligation. Consult, complimentary, available to you at any time. Just call 919-772-7000. It's 919-772-7000. You can also visit wh.
Lawyer. All right, gentlemen.
Next question up. And here it is: the parent paying one child's bills. And here's that's the category. Here's the question: My mother had dementia near the end of her life. One sibling lived with her and used her debit card for groceries, vacations, and Amazon purchases.
He claims mom approved everything. Is that probably legal? Um, so it sounds like in this situation, we have a mother with dementia. Um one of the siblings who was able I guess moved back home and was taking care of her, is what it looks like to me. used her debit card.
You know, you have to look at what it is, I guess. I mean, it depends on how far down. I don't know how much money this is. We're not told how much money is this. Are we looking at like $10,000 over a year?
Did they rack up $150,000 in a year? Missing a lot of facts, but you do need to be careful, you know. If you're the sibling or you're the caretaker for a relative. And you're in this position. You do want to document things, right?
You know, if someone's got dementia bad enough, they can't really consent to a lot of things. And so you. You kind of want to be on the level. I would you know those accusations, especially if if this if this mother dies without very much money and the family's left kind of looking at credit card bills or, you know Um I don't know. You just gotta be careful, because this.
You know, I think in my notes I put this was probably... questionable. I would ask some follow-up questions, how much money was spent? What were the things that were purchased? Were they things that the mother really needed?
Um Food's hard to um you know, fight over. Yeah. Um But those, those are just some of my thoughts that you just, as the sole caretaker, you know, I see a lot where there's like four siblings, but one sibling's in a position, like maybe. You know, that person took care of their kids, and their kids are at college, and so they can move home and help take care of the mom, or they all take some turns, but one sibling is primarily doing it. I mean, protect yourself.
You know, it'd be nice if everybody can see what's happening so you don't get these questions a year and a half later. When everybody figures out, mom didn't have any more money when she passed away and it was all spent.
So. You know, I think that's probably just good advice, is just to document kind of what's going on. And um you know, be pretty open about it. Yeah. Answer.
These are legal questions. We are throwing them at the attorneys today and see what they come up with. Judica County Radio, powered by Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm. Your host, of course, Josh Whitaker, Joe Hamer, practicing attorneys here in North Carolina. A complimentary consult in and around estate planning or maybe a personal injury case you need some help with.
Grab one of the consults: 919-7727000. That's 919-7727000. You can also visit the website, wh.law, you'll get signed up. All right, got one more question, guys. We'll hit it real quick.
The contractor who walked off the job, that's the category. Here's the question: I paid a contractor 60% up front for an addition. After demolition, he disappeared for three months. He says material costs increased and he needs more money before continuing. Can he probably do this?
Well, I hope there's a contract. Yeah. Right? So that we don't, our question does not talk about a A contract. I mean, paying 60% up front, you know, without a contract.
But usually, a general contractor who'd be doing a job, this sounds like a pretty big job, right? He's demolishing. A part of a house, and he's going to build an addition.
So I don't think this is just a. You know, I imagine this is a licensed general contract, or I imagine he has a contract, and anytime there's a contract. If you ask me a legal question about a situation and there's a contract governing that situation, I'm gonna look at the contract. What does the contract say? And most general contractors have a provision.
that that accounts for if materials go up or You know, because that happened during COVID, right? Lumber spiked, different things spiked because of uh Shipping like gas is spiking now because of shipping concerns. And so that's usually accounted for in the contract.
Now if there's no contract We got we got problems, man. Yeah. We got problems. Even a bad contract is better than no contract, you know.
Well, you say that, but. Depending on how bad the contract is. There's a level of bad that the contract can be where that does not apply. But generally speaking. That's a legal term, badness.
Yeah. The level of badness in this contract is terrible.
So, this sounds like, and there's also the practical thing. Like, if this guy, let's assume the general contractor, I think this question kind of paints the general contractor as kind of a crook, right? I think that's what they're kind of leaning into. You're kind of being extorted. But people have to make money, right?
So, if lumber, if the price of lumber went up 80% over 30 days, you know, he did his demolition and now he's about to buy material and the pricing is way different. His contract should provide for that. But if it doesn't, you want this guy to finish the job if he can prove to you, like, hey, man, when I priced this, lumber was this and now it's this. I mean if he can prove it to you. It might be something you have to consider, because he's not gonna.
Without a contract, I mean, how do you make them finish the job, right? You know, um So it might be one of those situations where you kind of just have to make the best of it. Um But hopefully, there's a good contract that says exactly what happens in this particular situation, and you just point to it, and that's what the parties have already agreed to do. That's what should happen here. Legal questions, I think we have time for one more.
Let's hit it real quick. I want to jump to the disappearing fiancé. And here's the question. My fiancé and I bought a house together but never married. He moved out, stopped paying, and now wants half the equity, even though I've made every payment for two years.
What will probably happen in this case? I see this Weekly. I see this weekly. What, the disappearing fiancé? Really?
Maybe not fiancé, but I see where two people buy real property.
Okay, okay. And one of them, it doesn't work out. Right. You know, it happens to married people too, but it happens a lot to unmarried people, right? People who are engaged, people who have been together for a while.
They want to buy a house together. They want to stop paying rent. They go on title. Like when this says my fiancé and I bought a house together, to me, that means we bought a house. There's a mortgage, we're both on the deed.
And once someone's on the deed, you can't, we talk about this all the time. They're not coming off. Yeah. They're not coming off automatically. That's right, they have to voluntarily sign.
a deed back to you to get to get off title. They're on title and they're an owner. And you're not refinancing without them, you're not selling the property without them, it doesn't matter if they don't pay another penny. They're on the deed. They're an owner.
Um So, you're probably going to have to.
So, for this example, what I would do is you would negotiate with them and be like, hey, man, we're going to make. $50,000 off to sell this house. You haven't put any money into it. I'll give you. Yeah.
To go away, right? And maybe that guy likes that. Maybe the fiancé is like, sweet, $10,000, I didn't do anything. But we talk about this. I feel like we talk about petition to partition like every show.
Yeah, it's common. Yeah. So, if you can't come to an agreement, then you have to petition the court. The court can order a sale. You can argue and say, hey, this fiancé never put a penny into this.
I should get all of the proceeds. That's something you can do too. But this happens a lot, and we have to talk about the facts and kind of look at it. Hey, yeah, I can't do that, buddy. No, no, no.
You need real attorneys. All right, so Judica County Radio, another in the books. Josh Whitaker, Joe Hamer are your hosts, managing partners, Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm, and practicing attorneys here in North Carolina and offices all over our great state, Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuqua Verina, Gastonia, and in Moorhead City. If you've got questions, complimentary consult with estate planning or personal injury, if you've got questions there, grab one of the consults, 919-77270000. It's 919-7727000.
You can always go to the website too, wh.lawyer. Another edition of Judica County in the books for Josh and Joe. I'm Morgan. We'll see you on the radio next week. Yeah, good.
Judica County is hosted by attorneys licensed to practice law in North Carolina.
Some of the guests appearing on this podcast may be licensed North Carolina attorneys. Discussion on this podcast is meant to be general in nature, and in no way should the discussion be interpreted as legal advice. Legal advice can only be rendered once an attorney, licensed in the state in which you live, has the opportunity to discuss the facts of your case with you. The attorneys appearing on this podcast are speaking in generalities about the law in North Carolina and how these laws affect the average North Carolinian. If you have any questions about the content of this show, you can direct such enquiry to Joshua Whitaker at jmw at mwhlaw.lawyer.
