How do you know its a Total Loss?

Following an auto accident, a car is typically considered a total loss when the cost to repair to a safe condition is higher than the actual cash value (ACV) of the vehicle.

This is typically understood by most people.  However, the at-fault insurance company may consider your car to be a total loss even if the repair costs are less than the current cash value.  

When determining whether or not your car is considered a total loss following an accident, insurance companies will calculate the Total Loss Ratio ( cost of repairs / actual cash value = total loss ratio ).  They then compare this number to limits set either internally and/or by individual state laws.

In North Carolina,
the Total Loss Ratio is 75%.

The North Carolina DMV will issue a branded title for a salvage motor vehicle damaged by collision as follows:

(1)        For motor vehicles up to and including six model years old, a branded title shall be issued if the cost of repairs, including parts and labor, exceeds seventy-five percent (75%) of its fair market value at the time of the collision or other occurrence.

(2)        For motor vehicles more than six model years old, a branded title shall be issued if the cost of repairs, including parts and labor and excluding the cost to replace the air bag restraint system, exceeds seventy-five percent (75%) of its fair market value at the time of the collision or other occurrence.

Once DMV has issued a branded title for a motor vehicle all subsequent titles for that motor vehicle will continue to reflect the branding.

Defamation Explained

The law of defamation consists of two separate torts: libel and slander.

The general distinction between libel and slander is that libel is based on the publication of a written communication, a communication that embodies the words in a physical form, or some other means of communication having the likely harmful qualities of defamatory printed words.

Slander is based on the publication of defamatory matter by spoken words, transitory gestures, or any form of communication that is not sufficient for libel.

Every person has a right to remain free of the harm caused by another's writings, utterances, or other communications that are false.

The minimum elements of a defamation action that the plaintiff must allege and prove are as follows:

1. that the defendant made a defamatory statement concerning the plaintiff,
2. that the statement was false, and
3. that the statement was published to a third person causing injury to the plaintiff.

An essential element of any defamation claim is that the alleged defamatory communication must be false.  Publication is also an essential element of a defamation action.  Publication is the communication of the defamatory matter to a person or persons other than the one claiming to have been defamed.

Read More Here .... 

Beware of advance fee debt relief schemes in Charlotte

A classic advance fee scheme involves a so-called debt relief firm that collects thousands of dollars in upfront fees from consumers promising to obtain debt relief but rarely obtains any debt relief for them.  

Most recently a Wake County judge has extended an order that bars World Law Group, one of the largest debt settlement firms in the country, from taking orders and collecting money from consumers in North Carolina. 

Based on information uncovered during Attorney General's investigation, at least 813 North Carolina consumers have paid World Law Group more than $4.1 million for debt settlement services since 2010.  Of that amount, World Law Group collected more than $2.6 million for itself in illegal advance fees and used only $527,000, or less than 13 percent, to pay the consumers’ creditors.

DEBT SETTLEMENT GIANT REMAINS BARRED FROM BUSINESS IN NC

What to know before riding an ATV

If your child is under the age of 8, he or she is not allowed to ride an all-terrain vehicle in North Carolina.

Here is the statute: 

It is unlawful for any parent or legal guardian of a person less than eight years of age to knowingly permit that person to operate an all-terrain vehicle.

Also, it is unlawful for any parent or legal guardian of a child less than 16 years of age to permit that person to operate an all-terrain vehicle unless the person is under the continuous visual supervision of a person 18 years of age or older while operating the all-terrain vehicle.

The law also requires you to wear eye protection and a safety helmet that meets United States Department of Transportation standards for motorcycle helmets.

Finally, effective October 1, 2006, in North Carolina every all-terrain vehicle operator born on or after January 1, 1990, shall possess a safety certificate indicating successful completion of an all-terrain vehicle safety course. 

PJC (Prayer for Judgment Continued) in a context of a speeding ticket.

A PJC is a procedural device where, after a defendant’s guilt is established by plea or trial, a judge decides not to impose a final judgment and sentence immediately upon the defendant.

With only a few  exceptions, North Carolina law allows a trial judge to grant a Prayer for Judgment Continued to a defendant in any traffic case.

Basically, the North Carolina law lets you “pray" for the Court to “continue your judgement” or suspend making a ruling in your case.  In other words, when you plea the Court for a PJC, you sort of promise the Judge to never do it again.  In return for that sort of promise, the Court doesn’t convict you and instead postpones the judgment temporarily. 

In North Carolina, you’re only allowed one (1) PJC every three years, per household.

If, within 3 years, you commit the same offense or something very similar, the Court may revoke the PJC and charge you with both offenses.  

On the other hand, If you use a PJC and keep your driving record clean for three years, at the end the PJC evaporates and your charges with it!

That means that while you’re under the PJC any points (insurance or driver’s license points) don’t count against you.

Note that whether you use a PJC or not, you are still required to pay the court costs.  If you use the PJC, you generally pay the court costs, but not the fine.  

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CAN YOU BE LIABLE FOR PROVIDING ALCOHOL AS A SOCIAL HOST?

The liability of social hosts for the actions of guests to whom they have served alcoholic beverages is an example of a duty imposed by the law to try to prevent a third person from causing harm to innocent people.  

In Hart v. Ivey the North Carolina Supreme Court has recognized such a cause of action.  

In that case the Plaintiff was injured in an automobile accident.  She sued a number of people, including the 18-year-old driver of the car that struck hers, the driver's father, the hosts of a keg party who had supplied beer to the driver earlier in the day, and the beer vendor.

THE COURT HELD THAT THE DEFENDANT (SOCIAL HOST) OWED A COMMON LAW DUTY TO THE DRIVING PUBLIC NOT TO SERVE ALCOHOL TO AN INTOXICATED PERSON WHO DEFENDANT KNEW TO BE DRIVING.

Upon proof that:

• the Defendants knew the driver was under the influence of alcohol, and
• knew that he would soon be behind the wheel of an automobile,

a jury could find that it was negligent to serve the driver alcoholic beverages and that injuries of the kind for which plaintiff sought recovery were foreseeable. 

Hence, the moral of the post: if you know that your friend is too intoxicated to drive after a great party you hosted ... pull out that couch or call the taxi.  
Under no circumstances let the friend drive home.

Can you be liable for a negligent act of your spouse?

In North Carolina, spouses have complete immunity for torts and negligence of each other.  

Pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 52‑12, no married person can be held liable for damages accruing from any tort committed by his or her spouse, or for any costs or fines incurred in any criminal proceeding against such spouse.

Likewise, marriage does not affect tort liability incurred by one spouse before marriage.

On the other hand, a husband and wife can have a cause of action against each other to recover damages sustained to their person or property as if they were unmarried.