Living on your own presents an entirely new set of rights, responsibilities, and problems. Since you will most likely rent the first place you live, this blog post will set for some basic rights, responsibilities and problems with renting an apartment or home.

Oral Lease: The oral or verbal lease is an agreement that is not written down. Most are simple agreements about the amount of rent and deposit. Oral agreements can have other clauses, such as how long you will live in the apartment, no pets, maintenance of the yard, and so forth. Oral leases have two major problems:

1. If no agreement is made on the length of time you will live in the apartment, the landlord only has to give a 30 day notice to change anything. He or she can give a 30-day notice and raise the rent, tell you to move for no reason, or tell you to get rid of a roommate or pet.

2. People can easily misunderstand the terms of the original agreement or fail to remember exactly what was said. This can create problems and confusion and create a "he-said, she-said" situation with your landlord over exact move-out dates, etc. 

The bottom line is that the problems with oral leases outweigh any advantages. If the choice is up to you, it is better to insist on a written lease. If the landlord doesn't have a lease form, you can purchase one for a small sum from an office supply business that sells legal forms, or draw up an agreement in plain English yourself. A quality lawyer can also assist with this matter. As long as the document creates clearly states the agreement in ink and is dated and signed by both you and the landlord, it will be considered to be a binding document.

When is it okay to have an oral lease? When your written lease has expired and the landlord does not ask you to sign a new lease, it is probably okay not to insist on a written lease. You know the landlord and the landlord knows you. It is unlikely that the landlord will raise your rent each month or force you to move for no reason. However, this can still happen.

Month-to-Month Tenancies: This term means that you have not agreed to live in the apartment for any specific length of time. You pay rent monthly, you can give a 30-day notice to move or be given a 30-day notice to move, at any time. Usually month-to-month tenancies are oral, but they can be written.

The law and oral leases: If the oral agreement is month to month and doesn't cover certain things, the law steps in. For instance, the law says you must give one rent period notice if you wish to move, unless you have agreed otherwise. This means, if you pay rent by the month, you must give one month's notice. If there is no agreement to the contrary, you can give this notice on any day of the month. If you give notice on May 11th, then you can move out June 11th. This is called pro-rated rent. 

Everyone messes up once in a while and accidentally gives a hot check. As long as you promptly take care of the check with the merchant, there is no problem. If you don't, it can become serious very quickly. By law, the merchant must notify you at the address on the check by certified mail that you have given him or her a hot check. Certified mail must be hand delivered to a person at the address who signs a receipt  If no one is home, the postman leaves a notice, telling you to come to the post office to pick up the letter.

Do it! If you fail to pick up the certified letter,it is sent back to the merchant. The merchant can then proceed as if you had gotten the letter but ignored it. The letter must give you 10 days to pay the check. If you fail to do so, the merchant can take the letter and the check to the district attorney or county attorney to file criminal hot-check charges against you. Not only will you have to pay the check, but also you can be arrested, have to pay a large fine, and end up with a criminal record.

Some merchants use a check collection company before they send the certified letter. Closed check account can be treated just like a hot check or worse. Most merchants will send you a certified letter, but they are not required to do so. Hot checks of $750 or more can be treated as third-degree felonies and are a very serious matter. Even a check of under $20 is still a Class C misdemeanor, as a frame of reference. A lawyer might need to get involved if you find yourself in such a situation.

If you can't find a lawyer or attorney on our site or elsewhere on the Internet, you can always ask for a court-appointed attorney at your arraignment. You must satisfy the judge that you are too indignent (poor) to hire an attorney. If you can't afford to bond out of jail, then obviously you can't afford a lawyer. If you can afford to make bond, it is harder to convince the judge that you are too poor to hire an attorney. If you are supported by your parents while going to college but have no money yourself, it is difficult to convince the judge that you need an appointed attorney.

Listed below are various reasons for a license to be suspended. The suspension is for up to one year unless noted otherwise:

1. Habitual violator: You receive four moving violations within 12 months or seven within 24 months, arising out of difference incidents.
2. Injury in an accident: You have been responsible for an accident resulting in death, serious personal injury or serious property damage.
3. Driving while license suspended: Your licenses has already been suspended and you get caught driving.
4. Violation of license restriction: This means you must wear corrective lenses while driving and you get caught without them.
5. Unlawful or fraudulent use of a license: This means lending your license to someone or altering it in any way. More about altering licenses will be discussed below. This is an automatic suspension for one year from the first offense.
6. Driving while intoxicated: This suspension is for not less than 90 days or more than 365 days for a first offense. The penalty increases for subsequent DWIs.
7. Refusal to take a breath test: This suspension is for 90 days and, in most cases, cannot be probated.
8. Being at fault in an accident and failing to pay: If you are at fault in an accident and there is any personal injury or property damage of $1,000 or more and you fail to pay the damages, your license may be suspended until you pay. 
9. Failure to carry liability insurance: Upon a second conviction of failure to carry liability insurance, your license may be suspended until you get insurance, unless you immediately obtain such insurance and provide proof to the court.
10. Ignoring an out-of-state ticket: If you receive an out-of-state ticket and ignore it, the odds are that you will receive a notice from the DPS. This notice will suspend your license until the ticket is taken care of.
11. Felony drug conviction: This suspension is for 180 days.
12. DWI or Drug Offenses

In most of the above-listed situations, you are entitled to a hearing before your license is revoked. Notice for this is mailed to your license address. You may be granted probation if you are a first time offender. There is no probation if you are suspended under #8 above. Your license can also be suspended for medical reasons, failure to stop and render aid in an accident, and vehicular homicide. 

Appeals from convictions of Class C misdemeanors in justice of the peace court go to the county court. Since justice of the peace courts, like most municipal courts, are not courts of records, trial on appeals of minor offenses in county court are de novo. If the defendant is found guilty in the county court, there can be no further appeal by a lawyer unless the fine imposed is in excess of $100, in which case an appeal may be taken to the Court of Appeals and, in constitutional cases, to the United States Supreme Court.

Civil appeals, like criminal appeals, are heard de novo in county court. A judgment in justice of the peace court that is below $20, exclusive of interest and court costs, may not be appealed except in the United States Supreme Court. Any judgment in excess of $20 may be appeal in county court. 

Our West Dallas, TX lawyers offer legal council across DFW on criminal, divorce and personal injury legal cases.

From a west Dallas attorney: A judge sets the amount of the bond; therefore, the amounts may cary from judge to judge in the West Dallas, TX area. The seriousness of the crime is one factor in setting the amount of the bond. Common misdemeanor offenses, such as DWI and public intoxication, have present bonds. That means the judge has already set the amount of bond for all DWI's or public intoxication charges for you and your lawyers. Therefore, you and your attorney don't have to appear before a judge to find out the amount of the bond.

On more unusual crimes (not just in West Dallas; this applies across Texas) and especially felonies, the judge must be consulted. Usually this is done by having your attorney take you before a judge to enter a plea. This is your arraignment  If you want to bond out, you must plead not guilty. The judge will then set the amount of your bond. When you make bond (again, your lawyer can assist), you get out of jail. Side-note: in a speeding ticket case, you are able to represent yourself.

Arraignment. This is your first appearance in court before a judge to enter a plea and have bond set, if it has not been done already. If there was a preset bond for your offense  you will have bonded out before you see a judge. If you need a court-appointed lawyer, ask for him or her now. A court date for your next appearance will be set. 

Entering a Plea. When in doubt, plead not guilty. Your plea can always be changed later if you change your mind. Pleading not guilty allows your attorney maneuvering room to plea bargain or represent you in trial. Pleading guilty or no contest means no plea bargaining. You may be a harsher punishment, and you may have to pay the fine or spend time in jail right away.

Do you need an attorney? If you are charged with an offense that is a Class B misdemeanor or higher, yes. If you are charged with a Class C misdemeanor, it depends. If you want to go to trial on the charge, you should have a lawyer. However, you are allowed by law to represent yourself if you choose to do so. If you want to plead guilty and pay the fine, you don't necessarily need an attorney, but an attorney might be able to get you a smaller fine. You would, of course, have to pay the attorney's fee.

Finding an Attorney: Ask friends of family for referrals. Your best best is to shop around and talk to several attorneys. Feeling comfortable with an attorney you choose is as important as the amount of the fee. You may also use our site to find a lawyer in your hometown or by zip code in your area of town. Keep in mind that the appeals process will almost always require an attorney as well.

How to get ouf of jail: You can get out of jail by paying a fine or posting bond.

1.  Pay the fine: If you want to plead guilty and pay the fine, the judge will be contacted to set the amount of the fine. You may have to wait to be taken in front of the judge for him or her to set the fine in person. Once the fine is set, you can pay the money or "lay the fine out in jail." How much of the fine you are credited with per day varies from county to county. Most people do this only if the offense is a Class C misdemeanor.

If in doubt whether this is the correct thing to do in your case, don't do it. Once you've done it, it can't be undone. If in doubt, bond out. 

2.  Post bond: A bond is a guarantee or promise that you won't skip town and ignore your trial date. The different types of bond include:

a) Persona recognizance bond (PR bond) - You sign a paper bond in which you promise to appear for all court appearances when so ordered. The guarantee that you'll appear is your promise. A judge must approve this bond. If your offense is not serious and people know you and affirm your reliability, then you may get one.

b) Cash bond: If the bond is set at $1,000, you can pay $1,000 cash to the sheriff's escrow account to guarantee you will appear for all court appearances. If you fail to appear, the money is forfeited, and a warrant for your arrest is issued. When you appear as ordered, you get the cash back in full, but without interest.

c) Bond through an attorney or lawyer: Some attorneys will guarantee your promise to appear for all court appearances with a paper bond. This paper bond does not require you to pay cash for the bond amount unless you skip town. If you do not appear, a warrant will be issued for your arrest  and you owe the state the amount of the bond. You'll probably have to find a new attorney, too.

d) Bail bond: Most people use this because no PR bond was granted, they don't have enough cash to post as bond, and they don't know an attorney who makes bonds. You pay a non-refundable fee to a professional bail bondsman to post a paper bond for the amount of the bond. The fee is less than the total amount of the bond. The bondsman guarantees to the court that you will show up for all court appearances. You avoid having to pay the full amount of the bond, as you do in a cash bond situation, but you don't ever get any money back.

The amount of the fee varies from town to town and bondsman to bondsman. With one phone call from jail, you can't shop around for the cheapest. You can, however, notify a friend to shop around for you. If you don't show up in court when ordered to do so, you and the bondsman owe the court the full amount of the bond, and a warrant is issued for your arrest. The bondsman also starts looking for you. It is much harder and more expensive to find a bondsman a second time if you've violated your bond already.

Under Texas law, justices of the peace are not required to be lawyers. Those justices of the peace who are lawyers may continue practicing while serving in this office, although justices in heavily populated counties are discouraged from practicing law. Justices of the peace are elected for four-year terms by the voters of the precinct where they preside. 

In a civil case, if the justice of the peace is disqualified or absent from the precinct  parties to a lawsuit may agree to a substitute justice of the peace. If the parties fail to agree on a substitue, the county judge may appoint a qualified substitute. A justice of the peace performs a number of functions in addition to his primary role of presiding over the trial of cases. Each justice of the peace is a notary public and has additional power to administer oaths and to attest to the legitimacy of signatures on legal documents.

As do all Texas judges, a justice of the peace has the power to perform marriages and, where there is no county medical examiner, to act as a coroner. In his or her roe as a coroner, a justice of the peace may be called upon to inquire into the details of any death that occurs under suspicious circumstances within the precinct.

Justices of the peace may issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum to require that vital witnesses and evidence be brought before them. A subpoena is a legal document that requires a witness to appear in court. Justice of the peace courts may issue writs of attachment, garnishment and sequestration to gain physical control of property involved in cases before the court.

Justice of the peace, as well as municipal judges, have no equitable powers and cannot issue injunctions. They do, however, have authority to consider equitable factors in arriving at just verdicts.

Considerable power is given the Supreme Court to equalize the dockets of the lower courts. The Court can order cases transferred from one court of appeals to another, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can require a district court judge to move temporarily into another administrative judicial district for this purpose. The attorneys in North Dallas spotlighted above are centrally located and can assist with further clarification. 

Effective September 1, 1995, the Supreme Court shall recommend to the legislature convening three years after the federal census help every 10 years any needed changes in the number or allocation of appellate courts.

The Supreme Court also plays an important role in the training and licensing of lawyers and attorneys and in the disciplining of lawyers and judges. Although it generally defers in law school accreditation matters to the American Bar Association, the Supreme Court has the authority to approve Texas law schools.

Finally, the Supreme Court exercises a great deal of control over the judges. Upon the recommendation of the Judicial Qualification Commission, the Court can censure, retire, or remove judges of lower courts, including judges of the Court of Criminal Appeals.