Georgia Crime Victims Assistance

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If you are a crime victim, in addition to suing the person who committed the crime, Georgia offers up to $25,000 in crime victim assistance. This compensation program covers such things as medical bills, funeral expenses, mental health counseling, and loss of income or support. This is a significant program. For example, in 2018, Georgia awarded almost $20 million to 14,246 crime victims in Georgia’s 159 counties.

The Georgia legislature explained the basis for program:

. . . many innocent persons suffer personal physical injury, serious mental or emotional trauma, severe financial hardship, or death as a result of criminal acts or attempted criminal acts. The General Assembly finds and determines that there is a need for assistance for such victims of crimes. Accordingly, it is the General Assembly’s intent that under certain circumstances, aid, care, and assistance be provided by the state for such victims of crimes. O.C.G.A. § 17-15-1.

To get compensation, you must file an application with the Georgia Crime Victims Compensation Program. To qualify, you must be physically injured or witness a violent crime OR suffer serious mental trauma as a result of being threatened or present during a violent crime OR trying to help a crime victim OR you are a parent of someone killed or injured as a result of violent crime OR depended on someone for financial support who was killed during a violent crime OR having been paying bills related to the crime.

The most common crimes eligible for compensation are child molestation, rape, domestic violence, homicide, hit-and-run, serious injury by vehicle, DUI crashes, assault/battery, and robbery.

Please be aware that you must meet some initial guidelines: you must have reported the crime within 72 hours and must file an applications with the Georgia Crime Victims Compensation Program within three years of the crime. These are the general rules but there are exceptions for minors and unusual circumstances.

If you qualify, you will be entitled to recover to $25,000 per victim per incident. The $25,000 includes medical expenses up to $15,000, funeral expenses up to $6,000, counseling expenses up to $3,000, lost wages expenses up to $10,000, and loss of support expenses up to $10,000.

If you are the victim of a crime, please contact Gomez & Golomb 404-382-9994. We offer a free consultation to review and explain your options to get compensated for your injuries.

Sue A Drunk Driver

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In Georgia, if a drunk driver causes a car crash, the injured party can sue a drunk driver and recover additional damages known as punitive damages. What are punitive damages? We have written about punitive damages before. These are damages unrelated to the party’s injuries, but, rather, are to punish, penalize, and deter bad conduct. In theory, even if your injuries are minor, you could get a large punitive damages award. Punitive damages are a warning to the drunk defendant and the public that drunk driving is not tolerated. In other words, because drunk driving is a dangerous and preventable act, punitive damages mean you will pay a high price if you are caught driving drunk.

Georgia recently clarified the law regarding punitive damages:

“At about 5:00 p.m. on September 1, 2016, Lakenin Morris was driving his older cousin Keith Stroud’s car when he collided with a car driven by 18-year-old Alonzo Reid, sending Reid to the hospital. Morris had been drinking with Stroud, and Stroud asked Morris to drive his car and gave him the keys even though Morris was obviously drunk and Stroud knew that Morris was drunk, did not have a valid driver’s license, and had a habit of recklessness. Morris later pled guilty to driving under the influence (DUI).” Reid v. Morris et al., S20A0107 (June 29, 2020).

In Reid v. Morris, the issue was whether the injured party could sue a drunk passenger for punitive damages. The passenger argued that since he was not driving the vehicle, punitive damages do not apply. The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed. Although Georgia law seems to suggest that punitive damages apply only to “active” wrongdoers such as a driver, the Supreme Court found this interpretation too narrow. Rather, the Court ruled the important question is whether the intoxication caused the collision. Here, the drunk passenger asked his drunk friend to drive his vehicle. Asking a drunk friend to drive your car is negligent and therefore ultimately caused the collision.

If you need to sue a drunk driver, call us at 404-382-9994 to represent you. We have experience getting damages not only for your pain and suffering but also for punitive damages.

Rape Victim Attorneys

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“You save yourself or you remain unsaved.”― Alice Sebold

Unfortunately, rape is all too prevalent in our society. On average, there are there are 433,648 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year in the United States. That means, every 73 seconds, an American woman is sexually assaulted.

If God forbid, you are a victim of rape and reading this, please (1) contact the police, (2) go to the emergency room, and (3) strongly consider contacting RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network), which is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline. 800.656.HOPE (4673).

Following a rape, victims face financial difficulties caused by medical bills, including emergency and follow-up care. Even worse, the trauma of and following the rape causes victims to experience depression, low-self-esteem, and struggles with family and at work.

Should you contact a lawyer? For many victims, contacting a lawyer and holding the responsible parties to account is part of the recovery process. A rape victim potentially has claims against attacker or rapist and against any business, school, or organization who made the rape possible. For example, if you live in an apartment complex, which failed to secure the property, you are entitled to recover from the owner and management of the apartment complex. Or, if at work, your employer failed to screen a co-worker who had a criminal history, you would have a claim against your employer.

If you have been a rape victim in Georgia, we are deeply sorry. Please call us at 404-382-9994 to discuss your legal options to hold those responsible accountable.  

Georgia easements: Do you know what a bridle path is?

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This issue came before the Georgia Court of Appeals. See Doxey v. Crissey, et al, A20A0443 (June 26, 2020). For those of you who do not know (the author included), a bridle path is “a trail for horseback riding.” The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th ed. (2020). See also Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (2020) (bridle path is “a trail suitable for horseback riding”).

This case involved the enforceability of an easement originally intended as a bridle path, which the owner of the easement wanted to convert to a walking path. The case highlights two important principles related to real estate easements:

(1) To interpret the scope of an easement, the rules of contract construction apply; this is a question of law for the court. The cardinal rule of construction is to ascertain the parties’ intent. Here, the Court of Appeals found that the term “bridle path” has only one meaning, which is a trail for horseback riding. Thus, per the terms of the easement, the only allowed use under the easement was to ride a horse.

(2) As is typical in the law, there is an exception to the above rule. This occurs when use of the easement changes over time, so long as the change is not so substantial as to cause unreasonable damage to the servient estate or unreasonably interfere with its enjoyment. The servient estate is the property that granted or give the easement. This rule applies even without the consent of the servient estate. So, if the easement became a walking trail over time, and the change did not harm the party who granted the easement, then the easement converts to a walking path.

If you have any questions regarding an easement, please call us at 404-382-9991.

In Georgia, can a security interest in real estate expire?

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Yes. A security interest in real estate expires (in other words, become unenforceable) seven years after expiration of the maturity of the debt. Or, if the language in the security deed contains an affirmative statement with the intent of establishing a perpetual security interest, then the expiration date is the later of (a) seven years from the maturity of the debt or (b) 20 years from the date of the conveyance. See O.C.G.A. § 44-14-80(a).

If a security deed expires based the above paragraph, the property reverts back to the borrower. This means the lender loses its security interest in the property and cannot foreclose.

An additional consideration is what happens if the loan is extended. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-80(b) answers this: as long as the loan is extended before the seven or 20 years—and, importantly, the extension is recorded on the public record—then the security interest is also extended by seven or 20 years (depending on the language in the security deed).

The import of recording an extension was the subject of a recent Georgia appellate decision. Bell v. Freeport Title & Guaranty, A20A0133 (May 1, 2020). In Bell, the loan and security went into default in 2007. However, the borrower signed two extensions. These extensions were never recorded on the public record. The lender foreclosed on the loan in 2015. The Georgia of Court of Appeals ruled that because the two extensions were not recorded, the lender’s security interest expired in 2014. Thus, the reversion of the property back to the borrower in 2014 voided the 2015 foreclosure.

Although mentioned in a footnote, Bell makes an important point, which is the grantee (here, the lender) has the duty to record its deed. Reidling v. Holcomb, 225 Ga. App. 229, 230-231 (1997). By failing to record the extensions, the lender had no one to blame but itself.

Please call Gomez & Golomb at 404-382-9994 if you have any questions about title to your property.