Redditors Share Some Incredible Legal Loopholes They’ve Discovered

Everyone thinks that the law is the law, and sometimes that’s correct. After all, the law was put in place specifically to regulate the way people behave. But some laws are written poorly, and some just don’t make any sense. Lawyers, and sometimes common folks, have figured out ways to worm their way out of legal issues, thanks to some interesting, overlooked loopholes….

If you find yourself in serious legal trouble, you might need a lawyer. However, you can also do research of your own to discover whether there are little-known ways to creatively, and legally resolve a particular issue. Isn’t that what the internet’s for? Well, it’s definitely what the upcoming stories are for. At the very least, you can be sure to have a a few laughs, but take notes- you never know when you’ll need a legal loophole for something going on in your life.

Longing For Freedom

So, this isn’t exactly a legal “loophole” per se, but it’s a seriously interesting fact anyway. Did you know that it’s not a crime to escape from a prison in Germany? In fact, longing for your freedom is actually considered to be part of human nature and therefore is not a punishable offense. But you’re not allowed to commit other crimes in the process….

But simply running off or sneaking out of prison while the guards aren’t looking is not a crime. They’ll still look for you, and once caught, you have to serve the remainder of your original sentence, and you probably also shouldn’t expect to get out early for good behavior, but you won’t be given any additional prison time. Reddit User: Purple10tacle

Saving You Thousands of Dollars

This one is something that my attorney showed me when my father passed away. It also saved me a whole lot of money; honestly, it saved me about thirty thousand dollars. If your parent dies with lots of credit card debt, the credit card companies have to make a claim on the estate within nine months of the cardholder’s death….

Or they lose any claim to the money. Interestingly enough, you don’t have to open the estate right away, legally. You can simply wait until the nine-month window passes before opening the estate, and since the creditors didn’t make their claim in the allotted time, you don’t have to pay them, and they’re legally barred from collecting on the debt. Reddit User: I_am_Mr_Nobody

The Butterfly Effect Loophole

This is a great loophole that you can use if you’re in the UK. In the UK, road signs have to match legal specifications exactly in order to be enforceable by the lawmakers in the country. There was a case a few years back when a speed limit sign had a border that was too thin, and as a result, a few hundred convictions for speeding were thrown out….

What actually happened was some famous United Kingdom footballer had his high price barrister uncover this loophole for him so that he was able to get his speeding conviction overturned. This then had a great butterfly effect on everyone else, which caused the authorities to overturn all of the other recent speeding convictions in the area. Reddit User: MmmmBisto

Keep The Money and Get To Spending

This one is from the land down under, Australia. There’s a defense in Australia that is called the “change of position” defense. What is this? Well, if a whole bunch of money just randomly appears in your bank account (most likely a wrongful payment), you’re probably going to go out and spend it straight away….

And if you buy something that you wouldn’t normally spend it on, it’s a complete defense to any action to recover the money. There are some things you can’t spend it on, though. You can’t spend it on bills or groceries, but if you change your position by buying a boat or car or something cool like that, then you get to keep it! Reddit User: rustej

Do Something Smart With a Mistake

I worked for a bank that, shortly before I started working there, accidentally made a double wire transfer to a customer, giving him $700,000 instead of $350,000. Quite the double, if you ask me. For some reason, the mistake wasn’t discovered until the year-end audit, some eight months later. They called the customer with little hope of recovering the lost funds….

But he admitted he had seen the mistake immediately. He did something I consider genius. He didn’t spend it. Instead, he opened a high-interest account and transferred the money, knowing we would come collecting it eventually. When we did call, he returned the $350,000 within two days and walked away with a little over $22,000 in interest for his efforts. Reddit User: Thecardinal74

Getting Out of Your Traffic Ticket

If you are unlucky and end up getting yourself a speeding fee, stop violation, or any type of sign or traffic ticket, go and request a court date. As close to the court date as possible, go to the courthouse and request a continuance for a random reason. Normally, they tell you right then when your next court date is, and don’t mail anything out to you….

Show up to the new court date, and chances are the officer didn’t know it was moved. Case dismissed. Don’t show up at the original court date, but you MUST show up on the date they gave you the continuance on. They don’t like it too much when you delay it because you were busy and then you fail to show up. Reddit User: SeanConnery

Getting Your Deposit Back on a Rental

This is one for all of you who are renting a property in Ohio. The fact of the matter is that under Ohio rental codes, if your landlord doesn’t provide you with a detailed itemized receipt of everything they’re deducting from your deposit within thirty days of the day you move out, they must provide the rental deposit in full….

We’ve all had that time when the landlord tries to charge us for something that probably wasn’t our fault in the first place. Not sure if this works in other states, but it’s worth a try if it happens to you. I have had multiple landlords try and keep my deposit, justified in some cases, but they all failed to do this, and I got the deposit back every time. Reddit User: kickdrive

A Bottle of Water Will Do The Trick

I know this works in California. If you receive a parking ticket and it’s been less than an hour since it was administered, immediately call the number on the ticket to contest it. The call will go through a series of automated questions; you want to answer these questions based on the premise that your car had overheated….

And that you only parked where you did out of necessity. Then go to either a convenience store of a gas station or an automotive shop (it has to be one of these two) and buy a bottle of water. When you submit your formal petition, include the receipt for the water that you bought and explain that your car had overheated. The ticket will be waived. It works every time. Reddit User: [redacted]

Seeing a Double Loophole

I’m actually a qualified and practicing lawyer, but the best loophole that I’ve ever discovered didn’t come from my training or my law books. It actually came from a television show; it was courtesy of Law & Order. It’s all about the way that DNA evidence is used to implicate people in a crime that they committed….

In this case, consider a murder that involves twins as suspects, if both twins are able to provide identical alibis and the police can’t tell which one did it. Regardless of which twin you end up prosecuting, reasonable doubt will exist, so it’s impossible to convict, and this means that both twins will go scot-free. Real cases involving identical twins have played out this way. Reddit User: [redacted]

The Impact of Reducing Your Tax

In Texas, there’s a great loophole. If you’re able to afford an expensive home and the land, you can utilize the agriculture tax loopholes from the state. You can do this by putting a few cows on your land as well as placing an RV on your land. You can then claim that as your primary residence. This knowledge is thanks to a friend at a county tax assessment office….

This friend works in west Texas and would watch, day in and day out, ostensibly wealthy people come in and review their paperwork, to see them actually live in a 750K house and pay less in taxes than the families who are living in 75K homes. No biggie, since we have no state-level income tax; all this does is impact funding for things like schools and all. Reddit User: LeonardWashington

Wiggling Your Way Out of a Warrant

This is about a cop I once knew. So this cop was actually retired, and he was running an illegal gambling operation out in the back of a retail space. He intentionally changed the numbers of the street address on the front of the building. The idea was that if he got busted, he thought the police would write down the number on the building as the address….

They would then have to issue the warrant request to this address, and it would not be verified with the city records. The information on the warrant would then be incorrect, invalidating the warrant, and all charges based on evidence found in the resulting search would be tossed out. He never got caught, so I don’t know if it would really work or not. Reddit User: BigOrangeBall

It’s All Down To The Language

So this special one is about a language barrier, which may help you find a loophole when you go to Ireland. In Ireland, Irish is the official language of the country. But despite it being their official language, English is actually the most commonly spoken language there. This is where the loophole comes into play with the way official laws are made….

If a law isn’t translated into Irish, it’s not officially a law, and cases have actually been thrown out of court because of it. It recently happened in my hometown. Two of the pubs in the area ended up being saved from prosecution for serving after hours when their lawyer made them aware of this loophole. It even made the national news here. Reddit User: thedeclineirl

A Powerful Negotiating Tactic

Have you ever been aware that you’re going to be busted by a debt collector? It’s okay; it happens to us all once in a while. Maybe this can help you if that’s the unfortunate situation that you’ve found yourself in. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act has some pretty strict regulations on what a debt collector must do in trying to recover money from you….

Pretty much any party trying to collect money from you under the Act is considered a “debt collector.” Things as simple as the debtor being “intimidated,” “confused,” or minor errors in the actual amount to be collected can be grounds for severe fines. This can result in a powerful counterclaim for you, or it can just be really good grounds that serve for a negotiating tactic. Reddit User: Got_That_Suga

Clogging Up the Courts With Claims

America is full of busy, hard-working men and women all across the nation. Well, in New York, it was believed that injured workers were clogging up the courts with claims against their employers, so laws were passed to create a separate system to deal with workplace injuries and to bar workers from suing their employers in regular civil court for their workplace injury claims….

It did not take lawyers very long to figure out that the workers could still sue various other parties (property owners, etc.) for their injuries, and that these other parties would always bring in the employers as third-party defendants. So in most cases, the entire workplace injury statutory framework accomplishes nothing when keeping employment injury cases out of court. Reddit User: abunchofsquirrels

Taxing For Vacant Land That Isn’t Really Vacant

Here’s a good one for you. I got a kick out of a storage company that didn’t have any buildings with a foundation. The lot was zoned commercial but taxed as vacant land. The company put a series of cargo trailers on it (like the ones on the back of an 18-wheeler) and rented out the space as a storage facility….

So what happened? The town couldn’t reassess the property since these were not permanent improvements to the land. Ultimately the town more or less had the place condemned as unsafe until the units were fastened to the ground. Once that happened, the reassessment came pretty quickly. Still, I have to tip my hat to a clever idea. Reddit User: [redacted]

Free Golf Cart, Anyone?

I’m not a lawyer, but I do know my way around the law and have some great fun facts to share as well. Electric cars are all the rage right now, but they’re seriously expensive to own. I keep dreaming that one day I’ll have one, but until then, I’ve figured out another way to own a more affordable version….

If you buy an electric golf cart, it legally counts as an electric car; so that means you get a tax refund that year for around the same as you paid for the golf cart. What I’m basically telling you is that if you make use of this great loophole I’ve discovered, you can essentially get a free golf cart if you want one. Reddit User: LetMeBeGreat

One Point To The Banks

There are certain loan contracts that were once issued in the days of smaller banks, and also S&Ls were extended on some very fluid collateral. So, when this bubble burst, many of the borrowers from the bank were then unable to pay in full, and the banks were left in some serious trouble because of something they hadn’t accounted for….

They had not taken into account that a herd of cows, a fleet of trucks, an airplane, or stock certificates could be easily sold. As such, those assets could not be sold or foreclosed upon due to contractual specificity. It was because of this that certain banks failed and new collateral-based laws were then changed. Well done, banks! Reddit User: Durbee

Take What You Can Get

This one is a bit weird, and I’m not sure if I would consider it too much of a loophole because there isn’t really anything you can get out of it. It’s a law in California. You can pay about $25 and get a copy of a deceased person’s autopsy and investigative report (this is if they died suspiciously)….

The only thing is that you won’t be able to get access to the list of the personal property that was found with the body, so if you’re looking to try and lay your sticky little paws on something, this isn’t the way to do that. You can read all about the gory details, but you can’t know if they had a purse on them at the time or not. Useless fact, take it or leave it. Reddit User: PlasticGirl

Double The Daddy Support

Hello to all the gold diggers out there. This sadly is only allowed in one province of Canada: in Ontario. If you’re living with a man for over one year and you have children but they aren’t biologically his, you can claim child support. But if you’re already paid child support from their biological dad, how does this work?

If your children consider the man that you and they are currently living with as a father figure, you can get money from both of the fathers. This is a win-win for you and your children, and the law is legitimate. There isn’t even a loophole for this one; it’s just something that you should know if you’re in that type of situation. Reddit User: CartonOfMilk

Stop And Be Safe Anyway

I know that this one isn’t really a proper legal loophole, but it’s one that could end up being a decent life hack if you need it one day. You don’t have to stop at any stop sign that isn’t legally purchased by the state, county, or city governments. Most stop signs are purchased by the HOA in the area and installed….

If you’re wondering how you’re going to be able to tell the difference, you can hop out of your car and check the sign. If you take a look at the back of the stop sign, you’ll see a sticker that says, “Provided by the county or blah blah blah.” If the sticker isn’t there, then the sign technically isn’t legal, and you don’t need to stop. Be safe, though! Reddit User: [redacted]

Not Guilty But I’m Insane

This legal loophole is one that we’ve all seen numerous times in movies or series. It’s the good old “not guilty by reason of insanity.” It’s a great way for lawyers to help their clients escape being sent to prison and rather have them confined to a mental institution. Technically with this type of case, you’re not found guilty….

But you’re then sent to a mental institution indefinitely. John Hinkley, the guy who shot Reagan, may have been released from prison by now if he had been found guilty of attempted murder. But since he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, he will probably remain locked up for the rest of his life. Reddit User: [redacted]

Getting Looped Up in New York City

This is a loophole that I’ve managed to use in the past; it isn’t a really big one, though, but just sharing it anyway. In New York City, it’s illegal to go from one subway train cart to another while the train is moving. Once I ended up getting a ticket from an undercover officer who caught me doing this one time when I was on the train….

I then wrote a letter to the DA and presiding court stating that someone in the train car had made me feel unsafe and that I wanted to get away. I figured the loophole all on my own, and I’ve learned now that this is enough to get the ticket to be forgiven almost every time that this has happened. Wonder when they’ll wise up to this trick, but there’s no way they can prove you wrong. Reddit User: Vythros

Story 23

This one is about my boyfriend’s parents, who happen to be gay. His one dad is my boyfriend’s biological parent, and his other dad is the one who has legally adopted him. Together, his parents make quite a bit of money, and they would definitely fall into that lucky 1% of the population. But, one of his dads makes a lot more money than the other one….

Since our state doesn’t actually recognize gay marriage, when my boyfriend applies for financial aid, he legally only has to list one parent’s income. He always lists the parent who makes less, so the state gives him more money for school. This is a totally awesome way to play the ignorant system and for him to boost his education: a win-win. Reddit User: amydactyl

Risk It to Get The Biscuit

There’s always the risk of trying to do a good deed and then having something come back to bite you. I’ve heard of doctors who are unwilling to assist if there’s an emergency when they’re out and about because they can get into quite a bit of legal trouble if something does end up going wrong; you can’t really blame them for being anxious about this, because people sue for anything….

This loophole (well, technically law) would help in that area. It’s called the Good Samaritan Law. This means that if you had good intentions and were trying to help, you cannot legally be sued for your actions. You will definitely need to make sure that you can uphold your poker face in court, though, just in case you didn’t have the best intentions. Reddit User: VirtualAnarchy

Speeding Past The Rules of The Road

In PA, the no-passing zones are legally required to also have a sign at the beginning of the zone that clearly stipulates “Do Not Pass.” If the passing zone does not have this type of signage up, you are legally allowed to pass, and this is a loophole even if there are lines that are painted on the road. It essentially becomes null and void….

Another thing in PA is that during the daytime, you can only be cited for speeding if you’re going 10+ mph over the speed limit and the limit’s ≥55 mph, or if you’re going 5+ mph over the limit if it’s <55mph. In addition to this, the local police are not allowed to use radar or laser devices for speed enforcement. Reddit User: [redacted]

Saved By The Bottle

This is just a disclaimer upfront that this loophole does not necessarily work in every state in the US. A lawyer from New York City has always driven with an unopened fifth of vodka in his car. One night after drinking, he’s headed back home when a police officer pulls him over. The lawyer then grabs the unopened bottle of vodka….

He then steps out of the car facing the cop car and making sure that the cop sees him opening the bottle. The lawyer proceeds to chug as much of the vodka as possible. Now, the police are unable to prove that the lawyer had been driving under the influence. He ends up charged with public intoxication instead, a much lighter offense than a DUI. Reddit User: acidic_chaos

Smarting Your Way Out of Speeding

Sometimes it just means being a little bit of a smarty pants, and then you’re able to get out of a speeding ticket. I mean, don’t come with intense amounts of attitude, but just ask a few questions that might be able to stifle the police officer who’s about to issue you a ticket that you really could have done without that day….

I once was able to get out of a speeding ticket just because I asked them how they calibrate their radar guns. The police officer told me that he did this with a calibrating gun. I then asked how they calibrate the calibrating gun. After that, he couldn’t give me an answer, and I never ended up paying a single dime for that ticket. Reddit User: ragnarockette

Using Physics To Increase The Limit

This is a story about my physics professor. I always thought he was a genius, but this story really confirmed it for me. I’m also using him as a role model for this and will do it in the future if I ever get pulled over for a speeding ticket. So, he was speeding past a sign that said “SPEED LIMIT 45”….

He was then pulled over shortly after the sign because he was actually going 15 over the limit. What was his response to the officer? “The limit isn’t a proper vector since it lacks units. 45 what?” Even though he said this, he still totally got the ticket. I think it would be worth it just to see the officer’s reaction. Not a loophole, but it’s funny. Reddit User: quickclay

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

There’s a way to get around pretty much anything in this world. There’s some type of law in Maryland that means that we aren’t allowed actually to sell taxidermy animals. You’re allowed to make them and provide the service for other people, but you can’t actually sell the ones that you’ve made. But, where there’s a will, there’s a way….

When we want to sell taxidermy animals, or when people want to buy them, they come to the store, and they get a little something extra with their purchase. You’ll need to buy the stand that they’re standing on, and then technically, the animals happen to be an extra perk that comes along with the stand you’re purchasing. That must be an expensive stand. Reddit User: [redacted]

Down The Alleyway

 

If you ever are unlucky enough to get a street parking ticket, there might just be a way to have this ticket dismissed completely. The way to do this is if the street you got the ticket on has an alleyway connected to it. In California, and I’m guessing other places, this is one of the laws that applies to the road….

The law states that a sign has to be posted at all entrances to a city block where parking restrictions apply. They don’t often bother placing signs at the alleyway entrance. If it’s possible to enter a block from an alleyway and not pass a parking restriction sign, the ticket will be thrown out, as it cannot hold up to the standards put in place. Reddit User: esaba

The Bank Versus You

Sat here laughing at this one when I figured it out; what a genius loophole, but not really sure if it’s worth your while with all the court cases and lawyer fees that you’ll probably end up with if you give this one a try. So, one day, when you want to build a house, you should buy a plot of land with your own money….

Once you own the land, you can then go and build a house on it at a later stage, but this time with the bank’s money instead of your own. That way, if you fall behind on payments and they go to foreclose, they have to figure out how they’re gonna get their house off of your land. Just saying. Reddit User: godin_sdxt

When Your Client Is No Longer With Us

I’m aware that this may no longer be an actual loophole, as it might have been changed by statute, but according to common law, it’s still a thing. Under common law, an attorney cannot be sued for malpractice for screwing up a will. This one is for all the lawyers out there, and you’re probably already aware of this….

The reason for this, for all the non-lawyers out there reading this and want to know what the loophole is, is simple. It’s because only the client is able to sue for malpractice in these types of cases, and unfortunately, if it’s something to do with a will, the client of the attorney will already be dead, so they won’t be able to sue. Reddit User: Patrick_M_Bateman

Return This Loophole To Sender

This is just a loophole that I’ve heard about, so don’t hold me to it if it doesn’t end up working for you. Word on the street is that if you’re sending a letter and you put the intended address as the return address and also don’t attach any postage, then the post office will “return to sender” for free. This means they’re sending it for free….

I honestly haven’t tried it, but I think it’s an interesting concept to think about. I have heard, though, that something like this could land you in some trouble if you’re found out for it. Then you’ll end up needing some other loopholes to get you out of that kind of problem. So maybe just buy the stamp; it’s probably easier. Reddit User: [redacted]

Outsmarting Your Soon-to-Be Ex

I have a really great strategy that isn’t really a legal loophole but something that could help all those people out there who are about to get divorced, for better or worse. Everyone knows that your divorce settlement is completely dependent on your lawyer and how good they are, so you need to try and set yourself up for success in this department….

When you’re in the process of getting a divorce, do your research and pick out all of the best divorce attorneys you can find in your area. Once you’ve done this, go and arrange a meeting with all of them. The purpose of this is that it will prevent your soon-to-be ex from hiring any of them, because they can’t represent someone who you’ll be getting a divorce from. Reddit User: King_of_Nowhere

Making Sure You Get Free Parking

I think I’ve seen a story similar to this one before, but it clearly works one way or another, so it’s good to pass along. There’s a great way to fight off your parking tickets. The way to do this is by asking the issuing body to produce their calibration certificate for the offending meter. My city has about 6000 meters in total….

It’s definitely too expensive for the city to calibrate each and every one of them as per the manufacturer’s specifications, so they don’t even end up doing this. They then cancel the ticket and will then blame you for not reading the meter properly. But at that point, you won’t really care because you managed to get yourself free parking. Reddit User: Notaniphone

Hiding in Plain Sight

If you’ve missed a few payments on your car loan, you may live in fear of the repo man. Having a car repossessed is so bad for your credit, and it’s embarrassing. There’s a loophole. The repo man usually has an address where the car is expected to be found. But, what if the car isn’t at that address? Maybe park the car in a neighbor’s driveway….

They won’t be able to take the car because it may very well belong to someone else. If you suspect it might happen, park your car elsewhere. This loophole is a bit questionable, as license plates will let the repo man know exactly who the car belongs to. Only use this one if you’re seriously desperate, as it probably won’t work. Reddit User: [redacted]

The Answer Is Always No

The moral of the story is that no is generally the best answer in most types of legal situations. For example, when an officer asks if they can take a look in or at something, the answer that should come from your mouth should always be no. In general, never give your consent to a search, and try your best not to talk to the police….

This isn’t a loophole per se, but so many people don’t know this or ignore it. It’s also one of those things that you have a very high probability of actually using at some point in your life. If you don’t feel comfortable with the situation, you can always say no and then see what happens after that if they want to take the matter further. Reddit User: kujustin

Loopholes in Wisconsin Law

The legal drinking age around the country is 21, but there’s a way to get around this in Wisconsin. The law actually states that a parent can give a child an alcoholic drink in a bar, restaurant, or in the home. The parent will need to be in possession of a proper ID, and then they have to be the one to order a drink and also be served it….

Once this has all been done, the parent can then give the drink to their child, and they can enjoy their drink. There’s a loophole within this loophole, though. The law no longer applies when the child has turned eighteen. This is because, at this age, the parent is no longer considered as their legal guardian, and they will no longer be allowed to do this. Reddit User: [redacted]

Becoming King of Your Own Land

You can get yourself some serious power in Australia because of this weird loophole or law, whatever you want to call it. The deal is that in Australia, if you write a letter to the government saying that you are seceding your land to make your own country and that you are the king of it, they will send you a letter back….

The letter will say and refer to you as the king of this piece of land, and you then will have legal recognition as a ruler under the Australian law. If you don’t believe me telling you this, look up Principality of Hutt River. Let’s all move to Australia and become rulers of our own pieces of land; we could start a real-life Game of Thrones here. Reddit User: respectthegoat

The Rules of The Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, if you get snapped by a speeding camera going over the limit, you don’t have to pay for the fine. Once the owner gets a letter from the court requesting payment for the fine, all it takes is for him to claim that the car was being driven by a close relative at the time of the speeding incident….

Since you can’t be forced to testify against yourself or a close person to you, the case will then be dropped. Just be aware that this loophole, of course, only applies to misdemeanors. If you punch through a speed trap at something like 200 kph, it will be treated as a case of public endangering and investigated as a felony. Reddit User: [redacted]