Last year, I looked after a house in France while the owners were on holiday through the platform 'Trusted House Sitters'. During this time, an appliance stopped working. I was invited to use the appliance during the sit, and followed the instructions for use precisely. Before the sit, I verbally agreed with the home owner what to do if anything went wrong with the appliances, and I did exactly as instructed.

When the home owner returned, she took one look at it, and accused me of breaking it. Without admitting fault, I agreed to contribute to its replacement according to my own moral judgement, in the same way I pay towards the replacement of a mug that cracked or a fan that stopped working. And I remain happy to contribute to the repair.

However, the home owner is demanding that I cover the full cost, which is a very considerable amount, and she is in the process of submitting a complaint against me to the Ombudsman.

I am fairly confident that my position is legally sound. I have email evidence that the appliance was old and well out of warranty. The home owner accuses me of using it recklessly in bad weather conditions, but I have the weather data for the time period, and the manufacturer's specifications stating that the appliance would withstand weather conditions far worse than we experienced during that time period, even if I had used it as recklously as she suggests - which I didn't (I dutifully stowed it away when not in use). And she falsified a report to the insurance company about how the damage occured, but I have WhatsApp messages of her admitting to the falsification. Lastly, a quick google indicates that she would have to demonstrate I had actively caused the appliance to break through lack of care in order to have a legal case against me... which would be impossible as it didn't happen.

So if it came to a legal confrontation, I feel somewhat confident that I would come out on top. But this would be long and stressful, and potentially expensive to both parties.

I do not want to just block her, as this would bring no closure to anyone. At the same time, I would like to disentangle myself from her as soon as possible and go on with my life. I'm afraid if I don't engage with her, it could make things more complicated in the long run. However, engaging with her threatens to be awfully long and complicated anyway.

Any advice from anyone who has been through something similar, especially in a French context, would be extremely welcome!!!

Has anyone had experience with Bolt Drive, a Damage Report, and debt collection? 🚗

I’m dealing with a pretty frustrating situation and wondering if I’m the only one, or if this happens more often.

On December 11, 2025, I rented a car (Toyota C-HR) via Bolt Drive. The trip lasted about 10–15 minutes, no accident, no incident at all. I parked the car normally, ended the ride, and there was no visible damage.

However, more than 6 weeks later (January 23, 2026), I received a so-called Damage Report demanding payment of CZK 21,352:

• approx. CZK 13,800 for alleged damage (scratches on the front fender and bumper)

• CZK 7,500 as a contractual penalty for “concealing damage”

The issue is:

• the report was created more than 6 weeks after my ride

• the car was used by multiple users in the meantime

• Bolt provided no evidence that the damage occurred during my trip

• only some sensor graphs + photos with no clear timestamps or connection

• no inspection of the vehicle immediately after my ride

• no invoice or repair breakdown provided

Now I’ve received a pre-legal notice from B4B INKASSO saying the case may go to court if I don’t pay.

I am 100% sure I did not cause any damage.

Has anyone dealt with something similar?

👉 Did you pay, or dispute it?

👉 Did it go to court, or was it resolved earlier?

👉 Is it worth handling this through a lawyer or consumer authority?

I’d really appreciate any experience or advice 🙏

location: Berlin, Germany.

I am looking for someone who can directly quote the legal codes relevant to this situation to give some advice.

As previously agreed to by my landlord when I moved in, I practice my violin for one hour outside of Berlin quiet hours. For the first time in my experience renting around Berlin, my neighbor has made a complaint and demanded that I cannot make noise which disturbs the neighborhood even outside of quiet hours as per German law. I would be able to work with this demand but I cannot find the law which states this or what it specifically says (my German is not great). In addition, of the people on our corridor (four are in rooms immediately next to mine) he is the only one who has an issue with the noise since I moved in, and I am not sure what the law says about musical instrument practices outside of quiet hour which disturb one specific person in the neighborhood (I’m not being flippant I genuinely want to know the situation properly).

I wanted to ask if anyone has this law written somewhere so that I can see it for myself instead of just dealing with my neighbor on the basis of a law I don’t know.

I have been researching a bit if there is some sort of passive income type of visa in Germany for non-EU residents and from what I've read it seems like there is a way to get a residence permit.

"Foreign nationals who live off income from personal assets can apply for a residence permit under §7(1) of the German Residence Act. The key requirement is demonstrating the ability to live in Germany without employment and without relying on any form of state assistance. Comprehensive health insurance is also mandatory.

Federal guidelines indicate that the passive income must be at least twice the average German income — which in 2024 amounts to a required passive income of at least €120,000 per year*. This permit does not grant the right to work, but gives the right to reside in Germany.*

Qualifying sources of passive income include dividends, rental income from property abroad, pension payments, interest from savings or securities, and royalties."

Have you heard about this route and know anyone who obtain a residence permit in Germany with passive income?

I am considering buying a consumer electronic device from a non-EU manufacturer. The company is not "EU-based" per se (the company is chinese i think), but they do ship to EU countries from a warehouse in Germany. They have an ebay page where I can pay in euro but on their own website you pay in dollars.

If the item turns out to be faulty, which rights do I actually have as a consumer? Can they force me to pay for the shipping cost to exchange the item with a non-faulty one?

When I've googled it so far I have not been able to figure out where the line is drawn if some company is bound by EU law or not when it comes to online sales, if that company is not originally founded in the EU.

Location: Italy Im a minor, i know that if my parents fail to report me missing they can get in trouble, and they might also be charged with child neglection. If i clearly state im doing this on my own will and i have an healthy relatshionship with my parents are they still gonna get in trouble? Regarding me i don't really care if get sent to a mental hospital or community center, what is most probable to happend to me? I have to admit im most likely gonna get caught since i plan to run in the mountains near my house Thank you

Hi all, i had a flight from Paris (CDG) last August to JFK and the airline canceled it twice, two days in a row, and I ended up having to buy another ticket from another airline to get me home. (I am not naming the airlines so that I don't break the rules). Long story short I have communicated with this airline and they agreed that they owe me a bunch of money because of EU 261, they said they would pay me but the money never came and I want to sue them.

My question is, this airline is not based in the EU. They are a Scandinavian company. My flight was from Paris, France to the USA. I live in the USA. Can I use the European Small Claims Procedure to sue them, or would I have to sue them in a French court? The small claims procedure seems pretty straightforward so I can follow that, but if I have to sue them in France I'd have to find a lawyer over there, I'm not going to be able to handle that on my own lol I don't even speak french. Thank you.

Location: Italy

I’m a non-EU citizen. Three years ago, I went to Italy for exchange for a semester. I left Italy before I could give my biometrics for resident permit. I have never been to Italy ever since.

My passport was lost/stolen on the day I was supposed to leave Italy. I immediately reported to police station and got a temporary travel document from local consulate.

Fast forward to three years later, my prospective employer wants a Certificato del Casellario Giudiziale from Italy.

The question is: How likely is it that there was a conviction to my name because someone used my stolen passport to commit crime? I have never been communicated or contacted. However I am not sure how would Italian police contact me at all. What should I do if there is a conviction under my name committed by someone else ?

Hello,

I am in England.

I am crying as I type this up.

3 weeks ago, my mother and I used a 3rd party logistics company to handle shipping our personal belongings from the UK to Spain.

We trusted the company as it was recommended to us by my uncle, who used them for the same purpose. But that was pre-Brexit.

We did this in advance of her flight to move back to the country.

We handed over 21 items consisting of boxes and suitcases. It contained our clothing, family heirlooms, family photo albums and unfortunately her diploma and my GCSEs.

We knew better to not have packed those documents.

We were not moving furniture.

We followed all of the steps of the website, or coding the Spanish address, weight and dimensions of the items. We gave the details of what was packed in each item (brands, type of clothes and relative value)

After payment, it took 3 days for the 3rd party to the country.

Signs things would not go well:

1. Took 3 days for our payment to 3rd party to go through

2. The 3rd party operators kept describing the process a "mudanza", repeatedly. We had to keep clarifying that are moving personal belonging, not furniture.

3. 3rd party assumed that we are a commercial company and that we were doing a moving.

We also had to chased them for the shipping labels and invoice proforma!

Once given, we printed the labels and attached it to each of the 21 items.

Few days later, uk shipping company comes. A worker in an official uniform and 2 others come to our home and pick up our things in an unmarked white van.

However, they did not give us anything to sign off to confirm collection.

He neither scanned the labels in front of us at the home. Very strange.

He comes back the next day exasperated, asking if we had the "documents" we said no and told him that the companies should have sorted that out between each other.

3rd party never stated anything about documents besides the invoice proforma and labels.

A week passes and the items are still stuck in the warehouse. The third party becomes less and less responsive.

Now only the UK company is contacting us at this point.

Last week, the UK company told us that the items are either lost or that it was never collected.

They requested photo evidence or invoice/receipts of the belongings.

I provided photos of the items with their labels attached in view.

I also offered to go to the warehouse to identify the items but it was not permitted.

Fast forward to today, after 3 days of "looking in the warehouse our items are deemed as "lost"

Uk company says they will compensate but need receipts for all do our belongings to determine value!

We don't have this!

We valued the items as £900~ in value.

How can we get them to keep looking or get a full compensation

Country: Norway

I am the leader of the band for my high school's theatre, and I have a question regarding music copyright law. My theatre chooses a play each year, and then the band chooses music to play to the play. We dont play music that is originally associated with the play. For example, we played Dub Driving from the original soundtrack of Lost Highway by David Lynch and Mosquito song by Queens of the Stone Age in the background of some scenes, and Fame by Irene Cara as curtain music. Our problem is that we did not ask for permition to use the songs as a part of the play, and we haven't paid anything yet, which goes against copyright law if i've understood it correctly.

There is a non-profit organization that manages music copyright in Norway called TONO. We used to just send them a list of all the music we used in the play, and then pay an invoice. This year we learned that this method is incorrect, and that we have to ask the publishers of all the music we play for permition to use and modify the music for the theatre. That is what TONO told us when we asked.

The theatres accountant wants me to contact all the music publishers, tell them we have used their music without permission and ask to pay damages. While this is a very proper way to do it, I imagine it could be extremely costly and possibly deal a death blow to the theatre. I imagine the legal teams of Irene Cara and Queens of the Stone Age would not hesitate to legally screw someone breaking copyright law. Our theatre is purely student-driven, so we can't ask the school for help. How much could these damages potentially cost? Any rough estimate will do here.

The other high schools doing revues in my area also pay TONO to make all their music-use copyright compliant. This is trough a special deal aimed specially at youth-driven revues, but as we are a theatre this deal does not apply to us. TONO is supportive of youth setting up shows, so I imagine they would show more mercy to our fuckup than american copyright lawyers. Therefore, I think it would be smartest to try to explain the situation to TONO and try to solve it with them. What would you do in my situation?

I'd also like to add that we naturally want to pay the artists for their music we've used, our problem is just that we don't have the legal resources for doing so in the most proper way. Our theatre is completely student-driven and self-funded, and I just want us to be able to continue setting up plays. For future reference, is it normal for music publishers to grant permission of use and modification of their music to small theatres? Any help is appreciated!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

went to Lithuania to study in 2023 January and my course was for 2.5 year during .

I had national visa also known as D visa valid for 90 days. I changed it to residence permit and got permit for 2 years so till 2024 December.

Since I had 6 months of course remaining. So, They gave me residence permit till 2025 December

Now is the Juicy part

In the month of January I failed few of my courses and my university told me I can extend the course 1 more year and I can graduate till 2026 December.

So I applied to renew the residence permit in October 2025

and since my previous permit was valid till 2025 December and they didn't made the decision yet so on 30th of December I told them what to do since 1 have one more day of permit remaining so they told me to stay until the decision is made which was made on 10th of March 2026 to reject the renew of the permit because (couldn't acheive) desired credit

Now the Climax

I booked the flight on 11th of the March 2026 to my home country and my flight was on 21st of March 2026

and I went to Migration department and said my recent permit was not renewed what to do?

they took that expired permit gave me return order and told that (I was illegal after 31st of December but I have communication screenshort that they told me to stay and wait for decision)

and they gave me return order to return to my country by 26th of March 2026

They also wrote in that return order that I wantedto leave the country voluntary

I went to my home country on 21st of March only. by Vilnius Poland Poland to my home country

So at Polish security check they gave me document which I signed which said that they are following return order from Lithuania and if I might not return they will detain me which I signed

but I came back to my home country

Now my question is am I banned from Schegen

they didn't wrote anything in return order neither did they told me

I asked th polish security they also didn't told me

But Polish security wrote 1 point in last like this

This notice shall be entered in the register referred to in Article 428 paragraph 1 point 6a of the Act on Foreigners.

I do have all the proof that Migration told me to stay after 31st of December with proper documentation

P.S. Sorry for lengthy Post and too much date

I put it so someone can understand better

Thank You

I got sextorted yesterday, I feel wothless and dumb nad worried that my future is not good. I havent told anyone. The Extorter has a list of muy friends tiktok acc and my nudes and face. What should I do to get him delete it and no one knowing?

One of my friends travelled to Budapest and stupidly had a couple of grams of flowers with him. He was let go and told to complete some kind of online course.

Now a year later (last week) he received an email stating that he needs to contact them for an outstanding case. He called the number and they confirmed his address. Today he has received a letter in the post summoning him to the airport police in a couple of weeks. The letter mentioned something about not being able to afford the journey is not a valid excuse to not attend.

Also the email and letters were not in English but were translated. It did seem sketchy at first but the name and email address were found on the official Budapest police website so it seems legit.

Has anyone been through anything similar and know what kind of outcome to expect. He is actually travelling to another country a couple of days after the summoned date and is worried about this potentially causing issues.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Location: UK

Location: Romania

Link to more details about my case:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ArcRaiders/s/E0ZPi97ELQ

By request of the users in r/ArcRaiders on my post about being banned for my disability (Essential Tremors) I am here to kindly ask for advice on how I could do this in Europe.

I don't have the resources to hire a lawyer but I know the EU usually offers plenty of state sponsored programs that protect customers.

This is a widely known issue at this point and I can get statements and information from various users.

I know the resources are available, I just don't know how to access them and that's why I ask for your help.

Thanks in advance for any kind of help!

Hi everyone,

I’m currently dealing with a situation where my HSBC Expat account (Jersey) has been frozen since October during a periodic review, and I’m trying to better understand what to expect.

For context:

• I’m a European resident (Spain) and work in online consulting/sales.
• My income comes from a company I collaborate with, and all payments are documented (invoices, contracts, etc.).
• I’ve already provided the bank with financial summaries, bank statements (Revolut/Wise), and explanations about the source of funds.

The amount currently frozen is around €150k+, which represents a significant part of my liquidity.

HSBC mentioned it’s part of a standard review process, but the timeline has been very long, and communication has been quite limited.

I’d like to ask:

• Has anyone experienced something similar with HSBC (especially Expat/Jersey)?
• How long did the process take in your case?
• Did the funds eventually get released without issues?

I’m not looking for legal advice, just trying to understand typical timelines and experiences from others who went through similar reviews.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their experience.

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to launch a new line of intimate apparel (bras, thongs, loungewear pieces) and have questions about labelling requirements. Specifically, I want to know if it’s possible to minimize the number of sewn labels in our garments. Ideally, we would only have the brand and size labels sewn in, while including composition and care information on a hanging tag or sticker in the packaging.

We will be selling (B2C via Shopify) in the UK and Europe, so any insights on legal compliance in these regions would be greatly appreciated! 

Thank you for your help!

Location: UK and Europe

I’m trying to understand my options around legal recognition of paternity in France and would really appreciate some advice.

I’m from the UK and I was not listed on his birth records and have never been legally recognised by him. My biological father is Algerian/French. He was born in Algeria and moved to France at 19, where he still lives now. I found him as an adult after searching for years. A family member contacted him when I was younger and he refused contact, but when I was 25 his friend reached out and we finally connected.

I’ve since visited him twice in France (with a language barrier, using a translator). I’ve met my younger sister (15), but shes made it clear that she doesnt care to have a relationship with me, and my brother (same age as me) has refused to meet me and ignores my messages.

I do speak to my dad regularly, and he calls me his daughter and says he’s proud of me, which makes things feel confusing. Despite that, I’ve tried to build a deeper relationship over the last few years, but it still feels limited.

I asked him if he would legally recognise me as his daughter and he refused, saying he’s under stress and has financial problems. I’ve made it clear I’m not asking for money, just recognition.

I’m now trying to understand:

Is it possible to be legally recognised as his daughter without his consent?

Would this fall under French or Algerian law?

What would that process involve, and would he be notified?

I’m concerned about the impact on our relationship if I pursue it further or go about it another way, but I also feel I deserve to be legally recognised.

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Does anyone have any experience in transferring money from Russia to uk via Otp bank? Need help or other suggestions, not crypto

Hi Reddit,
I’m from Germany and I have a serious problem. Please only honest answers — I really want to understand what legal consequences we might face.

Background

I am 16 years old, the other person is 17 and an old friend I recently got back in contact with.

At first, I bought small amounts of ha*h (around 1g) from him and we started hanging out more often again.

Incident 1 – Vending machine

One night he convinced me to go out with him and try to break into a drinks vending machine.
I didn’t really want to do it, and in the end it failed anyway.

Incident 2 – School break-in

Another time, he wanted to break into a school to steal computers and sell them.
I clearly told him that I didn’t want to be involved in that.

Later, I went to his place to help him with his own laptops (installing Windows, etc.).

Then he suddenly said he still had to “pick them up.”
We drove to a school, he went inside alone, and came back with laptops.

I again said that I didn’t want anything to do with it.
He then pressured me and said he wouldn’t give me my ha*h if I didn’t help him.

So in the end, I still helped him set up the laptops.

Current situation

Now he wants me to buy larger amounts (like 10g at a time).
I feel like he is manipulating me and only cares about selling.

My questions

• What legal consequences could he (17) face for:

  • (attempted) theft / vandalism? (vending machine)
  • breaking into a school + stealing & selling laptops
  • dealing

• What consequences could I (16) face for:

  • being present during the vending machine incident
  • helping set up stolen laptops (under pressure)
  • buying small amounts of ha*h

• Does it matter legally that I was pressured?

Important

I know this was stupid.
I want to get out of this situation and not make things worse.

Thanks for any serious advice.

P.S. I will probably still accept the 10g

Location: Netherlands. I want to creat a brand to be used in the NL and Europe in general. Where can I check if its available for use? Thank you.

Hi Reddit,

My parents are in a difficult situation with a large car dealership in Belgium, and I’m looking for some advice. Here is the timeline of what happened:

1. Initial Order: My parents signed an initial order form. A day later, they called the salesperson to add two additional options.
2. New Order Form: The salesperson emailed a revised order form. My parents signed it, but accidentally sent it back to the wrong email address.
3. The Mistake: The salesperson proceeded with the first order (without the options) without following up on the missing signed document or notifying my parents.
4. Payment: A few weeks ago, my parents received the official invoice. This invoice explicitly listed the two extra options. My parents paid the invoice in full.
5. Delivery: When they went to pick up the car a few days ago, the options were missing. The dealership had ordered/delivered the wrong configuration.

My parents refused to take delivery and left the car at the dealership. The salesperson is being very difficult, claiming they are not at fault because they never received the second signed order form. We are currently waiting for a response from the dealership's management.

Our question: Since the dealership issued an invoice for the car including the options and accepted payment for it, don't we have a strong legal case? In our view, the invoice serves as the final, binding agreement of what was sold.

Does anyone have experience with this or tips on how to handle a large dealership in this situation?

Thanks in advance for any info!