Hi there, I am a resident of MN. I googled my (quite unique) name this morning to check results and found a disturbing result: The website http://www.corporationwiki.com lists my full name as a manager in a company (a Inc.) apparently listed/started by my next door neighbor. I have no idea about the company, any contact to my neighbor whatsoever. I also never signed anything, was never asked, etc... The company lists 2 people, him as the president and me as a 'manager'. The data is said to be created using data from Dun & Bradstreet dated Nov-2011. I am utterly confused and offended. What would be the right thing to do, to start cleaning this up and removing my name from the listing? Direct contact this guy first, lawyer or police? Thanks for the help, TK
I would talk to your own lawyer first and ask for advice. This is a serious breach and if that company "commits crimes" or becomes insolvent there may be repercussions for you.
I would perhaps speak to the person first and tell them you know he did it and you are seeking legal advice and that might make them remove your name etc from the records as they would be scared about legal implications.
I'm in Minnesota as well. I'd first start with contacting a lawyer, who you can probably get a free consultation with. They'll be able to go over your options with you. Have you talked with your neighbor yet?
Yes, a lawyer should in my opinion be able to tell you what to do in such a situation but also if what your neighbor has done creates a liability.
Yeah but not anyone can just run out and hire a lawyer and there arent many that give any useful free advise. I would try contacting him and trying to resolve it. If it does not work then you can send abuse reports to host and registrar and if that doesnt work you can get an injunction. You simply go to your court clerk or DA's office to do that. If the grounds are reasonable and you have proof then you get the injunction served on him and the host, the site is gone.
Sorry, I didn't know that, America is a funny place, isn't it. Down here in New Zealand anyone can ring a lawyer and make an appointment - they charge, obviously, but there are no barriers to using one. Anyone from New Zealand over the age of 18 should have seen a lawyer to make a will (even if you own nothing a will stops your family having to go through years of paperwork). If they are older they have probably seen one when buying or selling real estate.
What I meant is it is very costly and unless you stand a chance of being awarded anything you will have to pay a retainer. You can just as well go get an injunction which will cost as well. At least if you go to the courts first you can bypass the lawyer and save some money. Simple slander or something like this could even be a criminal case. Nothing is free anywhere I guess when it comes to legal help but I would definitely explore going straight to the courts as opposed to hiring a lawyer right off.
It doesn't cost much for your lawyer to send off a fierce sounding letter and that is often all it takes. The letters take 5 minutes to write, the conversation is about 10. Shouldn't be too big a bill. On occasion we've had to send them and our lawyer does them for free. We've received them too, and the lawyer has a chortle and says "do nothing"... however if the dumb-arse neighbour isn't using a lawyer he won't know that
bad advice, skirting around a lawyer just to save a buck can lead to costly mistakes...just because he goes directly to the court to file an injunction only notifies the other party, nothing will be done unless the other party decides to take no action; you assume just because he files an injunction that the other party will just lie on his back and do nothing, maybe he will, maybe he wont, he is just is entitled to speak to the court just as the accuser.... what if he decides to counter sue in the process? Going to keep skirting around the lawyer or defend your own case.... Do it right the first time... but once you start, just keep in mind, cost can only go up, unless the other party folds quickly... or you could politely ask him to remove your name, and maybe end this before anything starts...