I'm trying to sort a repayment plan with lending stream I sent then a recorded letter on the 10th and i can see it was signed for but with an illegible name on the 12th but when phoning their office they have no record of receipt, only time will tell if get a reply, fingers crossed as i really can't afford things as they are.

In my experience, a lot of people have a vendetta against each other because there aren't very many rules and regulations allowing the two to co-exist peacefully. You have the basic cycling rules that you might learn as there isn't anything mandatory about it (and I've yet to see a cop enforce it) and the cars are simply taught the standard driving policies. I had a look at a driving lesson manual a few months back and out of 70+ pages, there were 2 pages about what to do when there are bicycles on the road. Some dedication to making the two meld together with rules that everyone is made aware of would go a long way, I think. I'd hate to say there should be a cycling license but maybe some form of mandatory reading so you know how to function around vehicular traffic. And of course, you have road rage. It's much easier to hit a bike and get away without a dent than if you were to hit another vehicle.

I understand. I think I might see if there's a temporary position at a local factory so I can foot the bill to see a lawyer in the city immediately rather than wait for the town's lawyer next month in July... I'm not sure if eviction is a genuine possibility, but my daughter is complaining about his presence rather often, my wife is starting to avoid being inside the house when he's around, and I'm left in an uncomfortable position where I can either keep trying to get him to leave or just swallow the discomfort and deal with it quietly. I'll be keeping quiet for the next month at least, just so I can figure out what my options are for this situation. Thank you again!

Thank you so much for the links, Stu! I never thought about actually going to the Manitoba government site, oddly enough. I had a quick look over the .doc you told me to check out and it seems you're right that this is what I needed. I definitely didn't see any form or written agreement, and I will be printing this stuff out for my appointment next month. I now at least know what I need to ask about, thankfully. Thank you again! This is superbly helpful.

Darn. Fair enough. Thanks for providing the website link!

As I understand it, can't you only claim traveling expenses when it is on the job, like with volunteer drivers and people who go on business trips often? I don't think I've ever seen anything that states you can claim expenses from traveling from your home to your job. This made me check out what the OP referred to in his post, and this paragraph in particular stuck out to me: "In addition to claiming the mileage rate, from 6 April 2011, a taxpayer can claim 5p per passenger per business mile for carrying employees or associates in a car or van on journeys which are also work journeys for them." I'm sorry OP, but this is for work journeys, not standard commuting.

Had a look around for about 30 minutes on that site this morning and couldn't find anything about what a tenant should do in a situation such as mine. I fear that maybe this is a bit of a rarity in housing. Will this turn out to be a situation where I just need to wait for the lawyer and see what he says?

Our councils are democratically elected, as well. There were two questions in the post, however. One of law and one of ideas, so I think it's still quite valid to be posted here! Right?

Hey everyone. I live in a small Manitoba town in Canada at the moment, and I'm on something called the 'Opinion Think Tank', which I can almost guarantee is a name someone's child came up with several years ago. We come together every three (!!!) months to discuss issues with a single council member of the municipality. Typically, these issues are already things that have been decided on by the rest of the council and the purpose of this get together is lost to me. We literally spend our time providing opinions for things that... Well, can't be changed. This got me thinking about the 'bigger picture'. The think tank is really just the people who are friends with the council members, excluding me. I was put on as a show of generosity as I know everyone and everyone knows me through my line of work in the area. The council members are the most wealthy/influential of the town. Typical rural politics in my experience. However, the way these two bodies interact is something that is a bit of a mystery to me. Everywhere else that I have lived, we have monthly, if not biweekly, gatherings in some building downtown to discuss problems in the town, what we can do to solve them, and then address them with the council members either via flyers, addressed letters, or a genuine get-together at a scheduled date. At no point is there a total disconnect between the two parties that results in the council doing whatever they want and the folks with initiative remain stuck with their unanswered opinion. I want to change this. But how? I was thinking of investing the money in a few months or next year into flyers, and passing them out into all letterboxes around the town encouraging everyone to get together at a solidified date every month to discuss what we want to get done in the town, what our concerns are, and how we'll solve them. I am totally not clued in with the ethics behind flyer distribution, though. Can there be legal backlash with distributing flyers? Do you need a license to do so? Will the post office (or rather, the mailman) do this for me or must I go to each letterbox by myself? Furthermore, what other options do you guys have experience with in your own neighbourhoods? I'm definitely open to any suggestions as I'd love to become more involved with the matters in my town, and actually having some of a say in things. We sell a lot of food and factory parts to the city, as well as maintain a thriving farmer's market that gets traffic from the entire county each week. It would be nice to control what happens around the town, such as health hazards, events that would destroy crops, and countless other scenarios that impact how we live and what we do. I feel that expanding the level of discussion we have in my town will have a significant impact on several things: Inviting businesses to the town, controlling harmful environmental threats, and preventing legal disaster with members of the community. It has happened before that the council accepted a business into the town only to have it flop because it didn't align with what the town needed or wanted. Thanks beforehand for anything you have in mind! I'm totally interested in becoming more of a speaker in this town after I deal with my housing issues.

Understandable! I've found that a few things are similar between our nations since we're both Commonwealth, but you may be right that there are big differences... I figured that since I was already registered here I should try this avenue first to avoid registering elsewhere. Generally speaking, is there a way to do something about a situation like this in the UK? Specific terms? I wonder if legal jargon is pretty universal in English speaking countries, so I could certainly look up and specify whatever I get told to inquire whether or not there's something similar here... Good idea or?

Hi guys. I joined this forum originally to get in on the chatting and help other people out wherever I can even though I'm not particularly the most skilled individual when it comes to money and legal jargon, but it seems I'm a person who needs help now, although nothing in-depth (for now). As it stands now, I work as a garbage collector and part-time snow removal in Manitoba, Canada. I don't make very much money but have always done well for myself all things considered, and provide for my wife and kid decently if my word is to be trusted... But our living circumstances are complicated, needless to say. We are currently living in a rented home, however, we are not the renter. To avoid anything confusing, the layout is: Owner -> Renter -> Me However, we have no contract with either party. In fact, we are living in this home as part of an agreement with the renter... Verbal agreement. The owner has no clue that the renter isn't living in the house and that it's us instead. From what I have found out by asking around, I pay the rent the renter must pay with a little bit extra, so I guess this is something he does to turn a profit from doing something like this. The renter has been coming around increasingly more often in the past weeks. First, it was to make sure everything was running well. Then, he simply hung around the house. Every time I would object (mainly because my daughter would complain), he would inform me rather blandly that it is his contract, his house. This was not what we agreed upon. I am beginning to become worried that maybe he will evict us from our home without us being able to really do much of anything, and I have made an appointment with a lawyer next month as I live somewhere rather rural and he is gone on vacation. I don't have the money to afford traveling to the city, and paying for this lawyer was close enough to not being possible. This then begs the question... What are my options? Can I get a contract several months into living here? Can I go to the owner and inform him of the situation? Is what I'm doing essentially illegal? Are verbal agreements even remotely valid under a housing system? Any information would be great... I'm not looking for really in-depth explanations or ideas, just a general overview of what's open to me before I go to the lawyer. I am not good with this stuff and I want to make sure I address everything I can when I meet with him. Thanks! P.S. This is posted under homelessness in the off-chance that I have no options and may end up being, indeed, evicted with nowhere else to go for a few months.